The United Nations on Wednesday released its first-ever recommendations on physical activity for children under five, with disputed advice on subjects ranging from screen time to “tummy time”.
The guidelines from the World Health Organisation may read to some parents like common-sense practices, including not exposing babies under one-year-old to screens.
But several experts noted that WHO’s broad recommendations were based on thin evidence and chastised the agency for adopting overly simplistic definitions of key terms, notably “sedentary screen time”. WHO said the guidelines “fill a gap” in the global effort to promote healthy living.
With obesity posing a rising public health threat and 80 per cent of adolescents “not sufficiently physically active,” WHO said it was necessary to outline best practices for children under five—a crucial period for lifestyle development.
Despite acknowledging that its “strong recommendations” were based on “very low quality evidence,” the UN health agency said its advice could apply to all young children, regardless of gender, cultural background or socio-economic status.
