Healthy Lifestyle – Physical Activity
Amount of physical activity for children aged 5 - 17 years
- The World Health Organisation recommends that children and youths aged 5-17 to accumulate at least an average of 60 minutes daily of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activities across the week.
- “Physical Activity” refers to any physical movements that consume energy. These include physical education lesson, sports competition, physical training; travelling (e.g., walking or cycling), doing household work, games, recreation, etc.
- “Moderate-intensity physical activities” will slightly speed up breathing and heart rate, and cause mild sweating without exertion (e.g. one can still talk with ease while exercising)
- “Vigorous-intensity physical activities” will greatly speed up breathing and heart rate, and cause profuse sweating and exertion (e.g. one cannot or finds it difficult to talk with ease while exercising).
- Example:
Monday |
- Walking to or from school (20 minutes)
- Participating in physical activities in the recess - rope skipping(10 minutes)
- PE Lessons (40 minutes)
|
Tuesday |
- Walking to or from school (20 minutes)
- Participating in football interest class (40 minutes)
|
Wednesday |
- Walking to or from school (20 minutes)
- Doing morning Exercise (10 minutes)
- PE Lessons (40 minutes)
|
Thursday |
- Walking to or from school (20 minutes)
- Participating in physical activities in the recess - table-tennis (10 minutes)
- Playing with classmates - running games, climbing on playground equipment (30 minutes)
|
Friday |
- Walking to or from school (20 minutes)
- Doing morning Exercise (10 minutes)
- Fitness training at home - sit-up and push-up (10 minutes)
- Doing household work (20 minutes)
|
Saturday |
- Walking with pet (30 minutes) PE Lessons (40 minutes)
- Participating in swimming training class (60 minutes)
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Sunday |
- Hiking with family (90 minutes)
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Schools should adopt the following measures:
- At the primary level, schools should allocate not less than 5% of the total lesson time to General PE in KS1 and KS2;
At the junior secondary level, schools should allocate 5% to 8% of the total lesson time to General PE in KS3; and
At the senior secondary level, schools should allocate at least 5% of the total lesson time in General PE through Other Learning Experiences – Physical Development in KS4.
Schools are also encouraged to increase the curriculum time according to their situation and needs;
- Lead students for morning exercise, exercise between lessons, etc;
- Make the sports facilities available and provide equipment for students to engage in physical activities during recess, lunch time and after school;
- Provide opportunities for students to participate in various kinds of sport-related interest groups, development award schemes, competitions, school team trainings, etc; and
- Encourage students to choose physical games and training as leisure activities, and to consume their energy when travelling and doing household work.