How Much Exercise, Sleep and Screen Time Is Good For Kids?

Everything in moderation, experts say.

By Lacy Schley
Dec 18, 2018 6:00 PMJan 3, 2020 8:52 PM
Kid Bed Screen - Shutterstock
(Credit: Suriyachan/Shutterstock)

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

Millions of American adults are sedentary, sleep deprived and overloaded with screens. But what about kids? In a recent paper, a research team from Canada explored data from a 10-year study on roughly 4,500 U.S. kids ages 8 to 11 years old. According to recommendations from the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, children should exercise at least one hour daily, get no more than two hours of recreational screen time each day and sleep nine to 11 hours. The results of the paper indicated that children who met those guidelines had better cognition. However, most of the kids failed to hit all three marks.

71 percent met at least one recommendation.

5 percent met all three.

(Source: “Associations between 24 hour movement behaviours and global cognition in US children: a cross-sectional observational study,” The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 2018.)

This story originally appeared in print as "Everything in Moderation."

1 free article left
Want More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

1 free articleSubscribe
Discover Magazine Logo
Want more?

Keep reading for as low as $1.99!

Subscribe

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

More From Discover
Recommendations From Our Store
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2024 LabX Media Group