Physical Activity and Children's Development

Physical activity is not simply about fitness or sport. In children, it is a developmental need as fundamental as nutrition, sleep and social connection. Regular physical activity shapes the growing body (building bone density, developing motor coordination and establishing healthy metabolic patterns) while also profoundly affecting the developing brain. Children who are regularly physically active have better concentration, stronger emotional regulation, higher self-esteem and better social skills than those who are sedentary. Despite this evidence, data from Sport England and NHS Digital consistently shows that fewer than half of children in England meet the recommended levels of physical activity.

The decline in children’s physical activity over the past four decades has been dramatic. Children in 2024 are significantly less active than children in 1984. The reasons are multiple and interrelated: the redesign of urban environments around the car, reducing safe space for outdoor play; the disappearance of free-range, unsupervised outdoor play as parental anxiety has increased; the rise of screen-based entertainment and social media; and a reduction in structured physical education time in schools. Reversing this trend requires action at the level of public policy, school practice and family culture.

The CMO Physical Activity Guidelines

The UK’s Chief Medical Officers issued updated physical activity guidelines in 2019 that are the authoritative national framework:

• Under 1: Should be encouraged to move freely in safe, supervised environments. Babies who are not yet mobile should have at least 30 minutes of tummy time per day
• Ages 1–2: At least 180 minutes of physical activity spread throughout the day, including three hours per day for those aged 3–4
• Under 5: Should not be restrained (in a pushchair, car seat or high chair) for more than one hour at a time, except during sleep
• Ages 5–17: At least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity per day, with vigorous intensity and muscle-strengthening activities at least 3 days per week
• All ages: Minimise the time spent being sedentary; break up long periods of sitting or inactivity

The guidelines distinguish between physical activity (any movement that increases energy expenditure above resting level) and sedentary behaviour (time spent sitting, reclining or lying down in a low-energy-expenditure state, excluding sleep). Both matter independently: a child who plays sport twice a week but sits still for seven hours a day the rest of the time may meet activity targets but still experience significant health risks from sedentary behaviour.

Physical Development in the EYFS

Physical Development is one of the seven areas of learning in the EYFS and one of the three prime areas – reflecting its foundational importance in early childhood. The EYFS educational programme for Physical Development covers two aspects: gross motor skills (the use of large muscle groups for whole-body movement, balance, coordination and spatial awareness) and fine motor skills (the dexterous use of hands and fingers for manipulation, mark-making and self-care tasks).

Both gross and fine motor development have wide-ranging implications. Gross motor skills develop through active, physical play: running, jumping, climbing, balancing, throwing and catching, dancing. Fine motor skills develop through activities that require precise hand control: threading, cutting, moulding, painting, building with small blocks. Fine motor competence is a precursor to writing and many other school-based tasks. Settings that do not provide plentiful opportunities for both types of motor development are creating unnecessary barriers to children’s later learning.

The Cognitive Benefits of Physical Activity

The evidence that physical activity directly benefits cognitive function in children is now substantial and has moved from specialist research literature into mainstream guidance. Multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses have found that physically active children perform better on measures of attention, working memory, executive function and academic achievement than their less active peers – and that interventions that increase physical activity lead to measurable improvements in these cognitive outcomes. The likely mechanisms include increased cerebral blood flow, upregulation of neurotrophic factors (particularly BDNF, the “Miracle-Gro of the brain”) and reduced stress hormones.

This evidence has significant implications for how schools and early years settings approach timetabling. Reducing physical education and outdoor play time to increase time on academic subjects is, from an evidence perspective, likely to be counterproductive. Schools in Finland, where children have significantly more outdoor break time than their English counterparts and consistently perform better in international comparisons, provide a practical illustration of this principle.

Screen Time and Sedentary Behaviour

The health concerns about sedentary behaviour in children are primarily about screen time (television, gaming, social media) as the dominant form of sedentary activity. The CMO guidelines recommend no screen time (other than video calls) for children under 18 months; limited, supervised, high-quality screen time for children aged 2–5; and avoiding screens during meals and in the hour before bedtime for all children. For children aged 5–17, the guidance is to ensure screen time does not displace physical activity, sleep or face-to-face social interaction.

These guidelines are frequently exceeded by the children they are aimed at. Ofcom data shows that the average UK child aged 5–15 spends approximately three and a half hours per day using screens, with older teenagers often considerably more. Addressing this requires not just screen restrictions (which, if imposed without explanation, often create resentment without changing underlying patterns) but creating genuinely compelling alternatives and building physical activity into the routines and architecture of daily life.

Active Travel and Active Environments

Active travel to school (walking, cycling, scootering) is one of the most practical ways for families to build regular physical activity into children’s daily routines. Children who actively travel to school accumulate significantly more physical activity per day than those who are driven. Active travel also has benefits for air quality, traffic congestion, independent navigation skills and children’s sense of agency. The government’s Bikeability cycling proficiency scheme and various local Walk to School initiatives both promote active travel.

Within settings, the physical environment (the layout of outdoor space, the availability of equipment, the time allocated to free outdoor play) shapes physical activity levels. Settings that have a genuine commitment to physical development invest in quality outdoor environments, ensure children have daily access to them regardless of weather, and prioritise unstructured active play alongside structured physical activities. Parents can reinforce this at home by limiting car use for short journeys, creating space for active play at home and prioritising sport and outdoor activity in family life.