Physical activity at 9-18 years: what, how much & why

Why is physical activity important at 9-18 years?

Health benefits of physical activity at 9-18 years

Improves heart and lung health and fitness
Boosts the immune system
Develops strong muscles, strong bones and good posture
Helps maintain a healthy weight and avoid overweight or obesity
Reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure and type-2 diabetes

Mental health and wellbeing benefits of physical activity at 9-18 years

Boosts happiness by releasing endorphins
Reduces stress and the risk of developing anxiety and depression
Improves sleep
Improves concentration and memory
Breaks up long periods of sitting and studying
Helps with learning new skills
Increases self-confidence
Improves social skills and helps with making and keeping friends

Physical activity is important for all children and teenagers, including those with disability. Young people with disability can do many physical activities. And many sports can be modified so that young people with disability can fully participate and be included.

How much physical activity does your child need at 9-18 years?

Australian guidelines say that children aged from 5 years up to 18 years need:

one hour or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity
several hours of light physical activity each day.

At least 3 days a week, this should include vigorous activities and activities that strengthen muscles and bones.

Your child can build up their physical activity across the day through a range of different activities. Some activities can be planned exercise, like going for a run, but some can be everyday activities like walking or riding to school. Doing different activities across the day makes it easier to do enough physical activity overall.

What are physical activities for teens?

Physical activity is any activity that involves moving your body. It includes everyday activities as well as organised sports and exercise.

Light physical activities

These don’t noticeably change your child’s breathing or heart rate. They include activities like leisurely walking, standing to do artwork, playing a musical instrument or cooking.

Moderate activities

These make your child huff and puff a bit. They could include brisk walking, dancing, bike riding, swimming laps and jogging. Helping out with active chores inside and outside your home can be good too.

Vigorous activities

These increase your child’s heart rate and make them huff and puff a lot. They can happen in any game with a lot of running. They’re often a big part of sports like soccer, cycling, hockey and football, and some forms of dance.

Activities that strengthen muscles and bones

These make your child’s muscles work harder than usual and put extra force on bones. They include jumping, running, climbing and lifting, as well as push-ups, lunges and squats. Many moderate and vigorous physical activities help to build muscles and bones.

How to help your child do enough physical activity

As your child gets older, their life might get busier. Planning can make it easier for your child to get and keep a healthy balance of physical activity, homework, casual work, social activities and so on.

You could help your child make a weekly plan of their activities. The following questions can get you and your child started:

What are your child’s favourite activities? What do they enjoy doing?
Where can your child be active? At home, in the backyard, or at the local park, walking track or local pool?
What local options are low cost or free to use?
Who are your child’s ‘active’ friends? Who can you visit to help your child be active?
Who else can help your child be active when you don’t have time to help?
What activities can your family plan so you can all be active together?

What if your child doesn’t like organised physical activity?

Your child might not like organised or competitive physical activity like sports. They could explore a range of non-competitive physical activities instead.

Physical activities your child can do at their own pace

This might include activities like:

walking with friends or family
swimming
going to the gym
doing online workouts.

Community activities

You and your child could look into community activities or groups like youth clubs, Scouts or Girl Guides. These groups often do a lot of physical activities. When young people get involved in groups like these, they might also feel a sense of connection, achievement and confidence, which makes it more likely that they’ll have another go.

Fun physical activity with you

If a past experience has put your child off physical activity, you can help them practise skills and build confidence. For example, you could have a game of tennis with your child at a local court. When there are no other people around, your child might be more likely to have a go. The bonus is you get to spend time having fun together.

When you’re active yourself, you can be a great role model for your child. Sometimes, if you or other members of your family can be active with your child, they’ll get a chance to see how good it can feel.

How to help your child balance homework and physical activity

You might be worried that homework is limiting your child’s physical activity.

If so, try talking to teachers about how much homework your child is supposed to be doing and then look at how much they’re actually doing. If you think homework is taking up too much time, you could talk to teachers to work out a compromise.

You can also encourage your child to break up long periods of sitting with short bursts of physical activity. For example, between homework tasks your child could:

kick a soccer ball against a wall
do yoga stretches
do body-weight exercises like push-ups or squats.

Your child could also try standing to do their homework. For example, you might be able to set up a standing desk for your child. This helps to reduce the amount of time that your child spends sitting still.

How to help your child balance screen time and physical activity

Sometimes screen time and digital technology use can mean young people sit still for too long without a break.

But you can use screen time and digital technology to get your child moving. For example:

Encourage your child to make a nature documentary based on a bushwalk.
Video your child learning new sports skills, and replay the footage so your child can see how they’re learning.
Suggest that your child chooses video dance games or virtual sports simulators.

Healthy screen time and digital technology use for pre-teens and healthy screen time and digital technology use for teenagers is all about balance. It’s good for your child’s development to do plenty of different activities, which include physical activity, homework and study, extracurricular activities, socialising, sleeping and digital activities.