When it comes to children’s health, most research tends to look at one type of movement—like how much time they spend sitting or how active they are. But life isn’t that simple. Children move in all sorts of ways throughout the day, and it turns out that the combination of these movements might be key to understanding their overall health.
We analysed data from 1,310 European children and teens who were part of the International Children’s Accelerometry Database. Using accelerometers, they tracked three types of movement: Sedentary behaviour (SB) – like sitting or lying down while awake; Light physical activity (LPA) – such as slow walking or casual play; Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) – like running, sports, or active games. We then looked at how these movement patterns related to four key areas of cardiometabolic health: blood pressure, body mass, glucose metabolism and lipid profile.
We found that the mix of movement throughout the day matters. The “Goldilocks Day” – a just-right balance of activity – was linked to better health outcomes (except for lipid levels, which didn’t show a strong connection).
Compared to the average day, the Goldilocks Day included:
- 12 to 39 minutes less sedentary time
- 8 to 32 minutes less light activity
- 44 to 47 minutes more moderate-to-vigorous activity
The takeaway? More intense activity and less sitting time are generally better for children’s health—but the ideal mix depends on which health outcome you’re targeting. One size does not fit all when making recommendations for multiple cardiometabolic health outcomes.
Murphy, J., Lund Rasmussen, C., Brazo-Sayavera, J., Damilola, A. V., Podrekar Loredan, N., Oluwayomi, A., … Murtagh, E. (2025). “Goldilocks day”: identifying the optimal awake movement behaviour composition for predicted cardiometabolic health outcomes in youth. Annals of Human Biology, 52(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/03014460.2025.2523764
Professor Elaine Murtagh is the Course Director for the BSc Physical Education degree at the Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences in UL and a member of the Sport Pedagogy and Physical Activity for Health research groups.
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