UBC researchers help develop and promote 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years

 

UBC's Dr. Guy Faulkner, in the School of Kinesiology, was a research contributor to the new movement guidelines on sleep, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour for children under five years of age, and is playing a key role in promoting their implementation.

The 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (0-4 years) embrace the natural and intuitive integration of movement behaviours across the whole day. They were developed through the collaboration of various national, provincial and non-profit organizations, an international research team and extensive stakeholder consultation. 

In order to ensure wide and effective dissemination and adoption of these guidelines, Faulkner also led a study with PhD student Negin Riazi to examine perceptions about the new guidelines and different methods for sharing them.  As a result, Faulkner and his team, Riazi and Dr. Erica Lau, developed a knowledge translation tool in the form of animated videos. The videos (below) were produced by UBC Studios with support from the Jacqueline Farquhar Endowment for Children’s Mental Health.

These videos are intended to increase awareness of the guidelines among early childhood educators and parents, and highlight the benefits of movement to promote children’s mental health and well-being.

 

 

 

Infant
Toddler 
Preschooler

 

Learn more about the guidelines

The 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (0-4 years) were developed by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP), the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (HALO) at the CHEO Research Institute, the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta, the Public Health Agency of Canada, ParticipACTION and a group of leading researchers from Canada and around the world, with input from over 600 national and international stakeholders.