Wellfie Wednesday Tip #124: Updated Physical Activity Guidelines

Happy Wellfie Wednesday! Welcome back! This week is brought to you by Patrick (@TheFuelPhysio) and it includes NEW updates to The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. This is the first update in 10 years! And a bit of a spoiler, not much as changed. But greater emphasis in key areas has been added.

The foundation of the recommendations still suggest a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and muscle-strengthening activities two or more days a week. However, they now also speak to specific populations, such as preschool-aged kids, older adults, and adults with disabilities.

Here are a few of those specific key guidelines:

“Preschool-aged children (3 through 5 years) should be physically active throughout the day to enhance growth and development. Adult caregivers of preschool-aged children should encourage active play that includes a variety of activity types.”

“Children and adolescents aged 6 through 17 years should do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily.”

For adults, “additional health benefits are gained by doing physical activity beyond the equivalent of 300 minutes (5 hours) of moderate-intensity physical activity a week.”

“As part of their weekly physical activity, older adults should do multicomponent physical activity that includes balance training as well as aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities.”

“When adults with chronic conditions or disabilities are not able to meet the above key guidelines, they should engage in regular physical activity according to their abilities and should avoid inactivity.”

In addition, the guidelines highlight the many known health benefits of being physically active. And with an influx of new research, those newly discovered benefits are also mentioned. Such as “improved bone health and weight status for children aged 3 through 5 years,” “brain health benefits, including improved cognitive function, reduced anxiety and depression risk, and improved sleep and quality of life,” and “for people with various chronic medical conditions, reduced risk of all-cause and disease-specific mortality, improved function, and improved quality of life.”

Be sure to check out The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans in its entirety, is it contains a lot of great information and a greater call to action for healthcare providers and community leaders.

The real take home message is that we need to Move More, Move Often, and that ALL Movement Counts! And as the WW crew believes, it is the small victories that matter!

Thanks for all of the support, be sure to post your pictures this week and tag the WW crew members in your post (@TheFuelPhysio, @Eric_in_AmERICa, @FreestylePhysio, @DianaKlatt) and keep the wave of healthy change going!

-WW Crew