Physical activity
Regular physical activity is associated with health and wellbeing benefits in all age groups.
It can help with mental and cardiovascular health and, in adults, it protects against:
- cardiovascular disease
- obesity
- type 2 diabetes
- mental health problems
Any activity is better than none. It can be done everyday or accumulated across the week.
You should aim to minimise the amount of time spent sedentary and break up long periods of inactivity. Physical inactivity or 'being sedentary' is when you do not move your body for long periods of time.
The recommendations for physical activity per age group are:
- pre-school - 180 minutes per day
- aged 5 to 18 years - 60 minutes per day
- adults - 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity activities
- older adults - 150 minutes of moderate intensity activities, flexibility, and balance
The outcome aims to increase the number of adults increasing their levels of weekly physical activity to more than 30 minutes per week and/or more than 150 minutes a week of moderate physical activity.
Download the Sport England short active lives survey and find out how to use it
Watch Physical Activity Toolkit webinar:
You can switch on subtitles once you have started to play the video. A menu will appear on the video screen.
Page last updated: 26 February 2024
