Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (0-4 years)

Negin Riazi, University of British Columbia

The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (0-4 years) were released November 2017. These guidelines acknowledge the natural and intuitive integration of movement behaviours (physical activity, sleep, and sedentary) across the entire day. As part of the development of these guidelines, our formative research examined multiple factors: stakeholders’ perceptions of these guidelines (including experts in pediatric and family medicine, physical activity knowledge translation, and child care); end user acceptability and perceptions (e.g. parents and child care professionals); potential messengers; methods of dissemination; and perceived barriers to implementation. Child care settings were identified as one of the optimal locations for relaying the guidelines; child care providers as important messengers; and social media as the preferred communication channels.

To synthesize and communicate the guideline’s recommendations for physical activity, sleep, and sedentary behavior in a visually appealing and understandable way, I collaborated with Dr. Guy Faulkner, Dr. Erica Lau, and UBC Studios to create an animated video titled Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (0-4 years). Our video was released on YouTube in January, 2018. Other goals for this project were to increase accessibility and awareness of the guideline’s key points and to convey the benefits of meeting its daily recommendations. The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (0-4 years video was the runner-up in the 2018 CIHR Institutes of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH) Talks video competition – an annual video competition for evidence-based videos that have a positive impact on the health of children and families.

Date modified:

2019-05-27