Compliance With Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep Recommendations in Children Aged 5–13 Years: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis Across 15 Countries
Hanhua Zhao, Yuxin Fu, Wenjing Zheng, Haojie Wen, Zhibo Chen, Lin Huang, Na Wu, Xuan ChenABSTRACT
Background
Several regions have published 24‐h Movement Guidelines recommending durations of moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA), recreational screen time (ST) and sleep. This study aimed to investigate the global prevalence of school‐aged children meeting the individual and combined recommendations of the 24‐h Movement Guidelines.
Method
Six databases were initially searched from 2016 to 2025 and further updated in May 2026. This review included studies reporting adherence rates to the 24‐h Movement Guidelines, including none, individual (MVPA, ST, sleep), combined (MVPA&ST, MVPA&sleep, ST&sleep) and all three guidelines among children aged 5–13 years. A random‐effects model was used to pool prevalence rates across studies.
Result
Twenty‐nine studies involving 83 396 school‐aged children were included in the analysis, and only 10.2% met all three 24‐h Movement Guidelines. Among individual and combined guidelines, adherence was the lowest for the MVPA&ST guideline (6.0%), followed by MVPA (7.9%), all three guidelines (10.2%) and MVPA&sleep (10.2%) guideline.
Conclusion
Overall adherence to the 24‐h Movement Guidelines among school‐aged children is low, with the lower compliance for MVPA&ST guideline and MVPA guideline. Targeted interventions to increase MVPA may improve overall compliance.