Children’s waking time 60% sedentary

A study of Irish children who wore devices clocking their physical activity for a week found they were sedentary for more than 60% of their waking hours.

The research found that, in contrast, the children were engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity for just under 11% of the period analysed, and almost a quarter of the children who took part in the study were overweight or obese.

The survey of 826 children aged 8-11 years involved having them wear Geneactiv accelerometers on their wrists for seven days to categorise time spent doing exercise and sedentary time.