The Ministry of Health is set to develop new guidelines for children under-five on physical activity, sedentary behaviour, screen time and sleep.
The new guidelines follow a review of the scientific literature looking at the impact of physical activity in the early years on health outcomes, in particular obesity.
The review by public policy consultants, Allen + Clarke, found that research into the impact of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep in children under-five was very limited.
However, they identified published studies which showed that all three factors were associated with health outcomes to varying degrees.
Physical activity interventions had limited impact on improving motor skills, sedentary behaviour, or adiposity indicators, in pre-schoolers.
Interventions targeting reduced TV viewing had limited impact on adiposity in pre-schoolers.
Each additional hour of sleep per night between the ages of three and five years was associated with a 0.39 unit reduction in BMI and a 0.48 reduction in fat mass index at aged seven.
The report also looked at other country’s guidelines for physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under five.
It concluded that even though more evidence is needed in this area, New Zealand could develop guidelines for children under-five and update resources for parents and others.
The Ministry of Health has taken this on board and is now set to develop guidelines and appropriate resources. This is expected to take 12 to 18 months.
You can read the Allen + Clarke report here.