How can your child overcome barriers to physical activity?
“Do I have to?” was my son’s immediate response to getting him moving. I wasn’t asking him to help with household chores or even do homework. I was asking if he wanted to move his body—be physically active. He didn’t want to.
At first I didn’t think much of his resistance to my suggestion. After all he was 11, almost 12, so I figured it was a phase. However, over the next year, I started noticing signs. As his physical activity dropped, he started getting out of breath chasing after me through the grocery store and having trouble sleeping at night. What concerned me the most was when he started saying things like “I’m not good at…” running, playing sports, swimming, etc. It was at this point that I worried my son was not being active enough.
Is my child not active enough?
If you’ve wondered whether your child is active enough, you aren’t alone. Many other parents are asking the same question and struggling to overcome barriers to their children’s physical activity. This article will start by going over what the experts say about how much physical activity is enough for kids and then cover three common barriers that decrease our children’s physical activity, plus offer strategies for overcoming these barriers so that you can raise an active, thriving child.
How much active time is “enough” for children?
It’s no secret that today’s children aren’t moving enough. According to the 2024 ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth [PDF], only 39% of Canadian children ages five to 17 were active enough in 2022. In this report, “enough” physical activity meant “an accumulation of at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity involving a variety of aerobic activities” as recommended by the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines.
This recommendation is similar in the United States and other parts of the world. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a U.S. federal agency, states that “children and adolescents 6 to 17 need to be active for at least 60 minutes every day.” At a global level, the World Health Organization, in its Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour [PDF], recommends that children and adolescents have “60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous-intensity, mostly aerobic, physical activity.”
Quick summary: Enough physical activity for children between the ages of five and 17 is at least 60 minutes (cumulative) per day of moderate to vigorous exercise. If you’re wondering what qualifies as suitable physical activity, check out this helpful article: Daily physical activity: 60 minutes of what?
3 common barriers to physical activity in kids & strategies for overcoming them
Although the “60 minutes per day of physical activity” recommendation is consistent and clear, it isn’t necessarily simple or easy. When I considered my son’s physical activity, or lack thereof, I felt overwhelmed. I knew something had to change, but several barriers blocked the way. Many parents face barriers to raising active kids. In this next section, I’ll highlight the three most common barriers along with strategies for overcoming them.
1. Excessive screen time
One of the most common barriers to raising active kids is screen time—too much of it. Typically, when children are in front of screens, they aren’t moving much and all that sitting isn’t good for their bodies. While screens are wonderful tools, pediatricians recommend that kids ages five to 17 only spend two hours on recreational screen time (watching shows, playing computer or video games) each day. However, according to the 2024 ParticipACTION Report Card [PDF] only 27% of kids met that limit.
I’ve always been cognizant of managing screen time in our home, or so I thought. However, when I started to pay closer attention to my son’s screen time—I did an informal audit over a few days—I was shocked. My son’s screen time went well beyond the recommended two hours.
Screen time management for raising active kids
Raising an active child goes hand-in-hand with managing excessive recreational screen time. There are plenty of studies that show a link between screen time and physical activity in kids. Less screen time means more active children. My initial screen time strategy with my son was to go “cold turkey.” Truthfully, it was very difficult and, looking back, I wouldn’t recommend it. Instead, here are are some tried-and-true recommendations:
- Recreational screen time audit: For a few days, up to a week, keep track of how many hours your child is spending on screens (recreationally) to give you a sense of where things lie. No need to track the seconds, just get a general idea of how many hours per day your child spends on screens when at home.
- Family media plan: As a family, create a family media plan to help you and your child set rules and priorities around screen use at home. Having clarity on your family values and expectations around screen time makes management much easier.
- Parental device controls: Set up parental controls [PDF] on computers, smartphones, televisions, and gaming devices to limit the type of content and how much time your child spends on devices or apps. These controls are a game-changer and very helpful for taking the “fight” out of managing screen time.
- Model screen use: As parents, we have a big impact on our children’s screen because they’re always watching us and following our lead. Model screen use based on your family media plan. I find this is especially important for older children.
- Daily screen-free time: Pick blocks of time that are screen-free every day. Perhaps it could be the hours between schools and supper or between supper and bedtime.
- Help children develop new habits: Try these small, easy ways to develop new habits around screen time use
- Learn more: Discover more tips for managing screen time and digital media from the Canadian Paediatric Society and by reading these great articles:
2. Time constraints
Here in North America, children and parents struggle with not having enough time to be active—also known as time constraints. While screen use can gobble up free time, not having enough time typically comes from being overscheduled. For children, once school is out, they often hop from one extra-curricular activity to the next leaving little time for much else. While many extra-curricular activities support physical activity, like sports and dance, not all do. Also, the downside to being overscheduled is that children have little time to engage in unstructured free play, which is shown to be important for raising active kids.
Although my son wasn’t overscheduled, his two older siblings were and, by proxy, so was I. I didn’t have any spare time to support my son’s physical activity, because I was so busy driving his older siblings around.
Making time for raising active kids
The barrier of being too busy is tricky to manage. In the world of intensive parenting, we experience a lot of pressure to overschedule our children. Here are some tips for managing time constraints in a way that focuses on raising active children:
- Choose active extra-curriculars: When signing up your child for extra-curriculars, opt for active activities that support the development of physical literacy.
- Opt for a multi-sport approach: Encourage your child to explore a variety of recreational sports—not all at once, of course—instead of committing to a competitive sport early on. Competitive sports are very time-consuming, and studies show that a multi-sport approach is best for raising active children.
- Balance structured and unstructured physical activities: Try to balance the hours (per week) your child spends in structured physical activities with unstructured free play. A ratio of 1:1 is often recommended for kids over five. For younger children, more unstructured free play is better.
- Unstructured free play: Block in time for unstructured free play regularly throughout the week and aim to have this time outdoors if possible.
- Commuting time: Consider how much time your child spends traveling to and from activities. A lot of time is lost commuting, and all that time is spent sitting. If possible, try to find extra-curricular activities that are close to home or encourage “active travel”—walking or biking—to activities if possible.
- Active family time: Make active family time a priority, even if it’s only on the weekends. Being active as a family is crucial for raising active kids.
- Helpful read:
3. Financial burden of sports
Between registration fees, equipment costs, and transportation to and from practices, games, and competitions, raising active kids can be prohibitively expensive for families. This is especially true in the face of rising food, fuel, and housing costs. The financial burden of sports is so significant that according to the Jumpstart State of Play Youth Report 2024 [PDF], the number one reason youth don’t play sports is because they’re too expensive. I’ve felt this burden myself and have opted not to put my son into certain sports because of the cost of participation.
Raising active kids affordably
While the financial burden of sports is real, I have a secret to share: raising active kids is possible regardless of your family’s budget. Here’s how:
- Get outside: Unstructured free play at the park, playing with the neighbourhood kids, or walking or hiking along pathways and trails are great ways to raise active kids. As a young parent, my children didn’t take part in many sports, but they were very active because we spent lots of time outside.
- Low-cost sports: Not all sports are expensive. These nine low-cost sports are great for raising active kids while keeping the family budget on track.
- Financial assistance: Don’t be embarrassed to ask for help if you need it. Various organizations offer subsidies or grants to reduce the cost barrier to raising active kids. Check out YMCA financial assistance or Jumpstart grants as a way to access sports programs for children in your community.
- Secondhand gear: Reduce the costs of sports by getting secondhand gear.
- Recreational programs: Many communities offer recreational sports programs that are a fraction of the cost (and less time-intensive) of typical organized sports.
Other barriers to consider
Excessive screen use, time constraints, and the financial burden of sports tend to be the most common barriers to raising active kids, but they aren’t the only ones. Here are a few other barriers worth mentioning along with articles that might help overcome them:
- Children feeling “not good enough” for sports or active activities
- Limited access to facilities or outdoor green spaces
- Safety concerns about outdoor unstructured play
What barriers are holding you back from raising active kids? Feel free to share them below or share your ideas for overcoming the various barriers mentioned in this article.
