Canada releases world's first 24-hour movement behaviour guidelines

On June 26 Canada released the Canadian 24 Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth.  These guidelines call for at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity, no more than two hours a day of recreational screen time, limited sitting for extended periods and at least 9-11 hours of sleep per night for children 5-13 years, and 8-10 hours for those aged 14-17 years. They were developed by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, the Conference Board of Canada, HALO-CHEO, ParticipACTION and the Public Health Agency of Canada, with input from research experts and stakeholders across Canada and around the world.

The process was informed by 9 peer-reviewed publications, all available for free via the journal of Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism.

Three papers of particular relevance to sedentary behaviour:

Systematic review of sedentary behaviour and health indicators in school-aged children and youth: an update

Combinations of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep: relationships with health indicators in school-aged children and youth

Associations between sleep duration, sedentary time, physical activity, and health indicators among Canadian children and youth using compositional analyses

Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth: An Integration of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep 

More details on the guidelines can be found via the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology and ParticipACTION.