Promoting Healthy Movement in Child Care: Guidelines to Enhance Children's Wellbeing

Ensuring young children engage in healthy movement behaviors is crucial for their physical, mental, and social development. Movement guidelines, which include regular physical activity, limited screen time, and adequate sleep—including naps—play a vital role in establishing lifelong healthy habits. In Canada, the 24-hour movement guidelines provide clear recommendations for these behaviors, but only a small percentage of young children currently meet these standards. Most children aged birth to five spend significant hours in child-care settings, emphasizing the importance of these environments in promoting active lifestyles.

Child-care centers are uniquely positioned to shape movement behaviors, but disparities in care quality and regulation across provinces can hinder standardization. To address this, researchers at Western University's Child Health and Physical Activity Lab have developed the first Canadian Best Practice Guidelines for Healthy Movement Behavior in Childcare. These guidelines were created through a comprehensive process involving national experts, organizations, and international standards.

Implementing these guidelines alone may not be enough to change behaviors. Combining them with professional development programs, like the TEACH e-Learning course—which has shown to significantly improve educators' confidence and knowledge—can foster genuine change in child-care practices.

The next step involves testing these guidelines in real-world settings within Ontario. This pilot phase aims to assess their practicality and impact on educator practices and children's activity levels. Once refined, the guidelines will be freely accessible online, supporting Canadian child-care programs in creating active, health-promoting environments. This initiative aligns with Canada's broader efforts to ensure equitable, high-quality early childhood care that fosters lifelong health and wellbeing.

For more information, the original article is available at The Conversation.