What are some benefits from engaging in 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity daily identify three benefits?

Staying active regularly is essential for good physical and mental health and wellbeing. This is true no matter how young or old you are. But the amount of activity varies, depending on your age.

To help Australians understand how much activity they need, we have developed physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines for each age group and for pregnancy.

These guidelines outline:

• how much physical activity you should do each day
• ideas to fit more physical activity into your daily lives
• the importance of reducing and breaking up the time you spend sitting or lying down when not sleeping
• how much sedentary screen time is recommended
• how much sleep children and young people should get
• how children and young people can get good quality sleep.

Physical activity guidelines by age

Find the guidelines that apply to you.

• For infants, toddler and preschoolers (birth to 5 years)
  Read about how much activity small children should do each day, limiting sitting and screen time, and making sure they get enough sleep.

• For children and young people (5 to 17 years)
  Read about how much activity children and young people should do each day, limiting sitting and screen time, and getting enough sleep.
• For adults (18 to 64 years)
  Read about how much activity adults should do each day and limiting sitting time.

• For pregnancy
  Read about how much activity should be done each day and limiting sitting time during pregnancy for the health and wellbeing of both mum and bub.

• For older Australians (65 years and over)
  Read about how much activity older Australians should do each day, and how to build activity into daily life.
• For people with disability and chronic conditions
  While there are no formal guidelines for people with disability and chronic conditions, being active is important for everyone. Find out what you can do to include activity in your day according to your ability.

Order the guidelines

You can order the following printed resources by emailing health [at] nationalmailing.com.au or calling 02 6269 1080. Provide:

• the order ID number
• how many copies you need
• your delivery address.

Summary by age

Children and young people

Adults

How we developed the guidelines

We developed Australia’s physical activity guidelines based on:

• a rigorous review of scientific evidence from around the world
• extensive consultation with stakeholders, state and territory governments, and national and international experts.

We looked at how health is directly affected by:

• the physical activity people do – including the amount, frequency, intensity and type of activity
• the amount of time people spend sitting or lying down
• the amount and quality of sleep children and young people get.

We have summarised the scientific evidence that support each of the guidelines.

Physical activity is anything that gets your body moving, makes you breathe faster and speeds up your heart rate.

Physical activity comes in many forms, including:

• incidental activity – such as mowing the lawn, cleaning the house or walking to the bus stop
• exercise – structured or planned physical activity, such as going to the gym, a swim or a jog each day
• sport – such as playing rugby, netball or tennis
• muscle strengthening activity – such as weight training or body weight exercises.

You can be physically active at different intensities, including:

• light – where you might not even think about it, such as strolling around the garden, getting dressed or stretching
• moderate – where you are putting in some effort, but it is not strenuous, such as bike riding or going for a brisk walk
• vigorous – where you are out of breath and sweating, such as jogging, star jumping or doing sit ups.

Physical activity can have instant, lasting health benefits. Whatever your age, you should be active most days, preferably every day.

What we mean by sedentary behaviour and physical inactivity

Sedentary behaviour is being inactive, either sitting or lying down for long periods (except when sleeping). We spend a lot of time being inactive at school, at work, when travelling or when relaxing.

A lot of sedentary behaviour involves screen time. This includes:

• working or doing homework on a computer
• playing video games
• scrolling social media
• watching movies.

Sedentary behaviour occurs throughout our entire lives. Even babies can be inactive – for example, when strapped in a stroller or car seat. It’s important to keep sedentary time to a minimum.

Physical inactivity means not meeting the daily physical activity guidelines. You can do enough physical activity to meet the guidelines, and still be sedentary if you spend a lot of time sitting or lying down.

Sedentary behaviour and being physically inactive can result in a higher risk of some health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and depression.

Physical activity in Australia

Too many Australians are not active enough for various reasons, including poor health, injury and lack of time.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and Australian Bureau of Statistics research found that in Australia:  

COVID-19 has added extra barriers to being active, especially for organised sport. Health concerns and restrictions – like school closures, gym closures and lockdowns – mean Australians had to change how, and how often, they are active.

This has affected children the most. An Ausplay study found that while almost 3 in 4 adults stayed active in 2020, only 1 in 6 kids exercised outside of school.

Why physical activity is important

Being active is important for good health and wellbeing at any age. Everyone should be active most days, preferably every day.

Moving more and sitting less helps:

Australia’s physical activity guidelines can help you understand how much physical activity you need each day to be healthy.

Read what we’re doing about exercise and physical activity.