Youth Sport Trust welcomes today’s launch of new guidance on screen use for children under five, which rightly places emphasis on the importance of balance in early childhood.

As highlighted in the guidance, screen use should never come at the expense of the fundamental building blocks of healthy development. Time spent interacting with others, engaging in imaginative and creative play, and being physically active are all essential for young children’s physical, cognitive and social development.

The new guidance includes recommended limits of no more than one hour a day for 2- to 5-year-olds and keeping mealtimes and bedtimes screen-free. Additional key recommendations from the announcement include:

• Ensure screen use in young children is balanced by other healthy activities away from screens, such as time interacting with parents and other adults and time in creative play either alone or with other children.
• Ensure your children get enough physical activity. The UK Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) recommend three hours a day of physical activity including play for children under five years.

The UK Chief Medical Officers’ recommendation of at least three hours of physical activity a day for under-fives, including active play, is critical guidance that many people are unaware of. With recent news stories highlighting increasing instances of children starting school without the basic communication, social and physical skills they need, often linked to reduced opportunities for active play and interaction in early years, it is important that we are creating those opportunities for young people.

This guidance comes as Youth Sport Trust polling, conducted with YouGov¹, finds:

• 82% of parents agree that they are concerned that young people today are not getting enough physical activity
• 87% of parents agree they are concerned that young people are spending too much time sitting and not enough time being active
• 77% of parents agree that digital distractions mean that their child(ren) are spending less time being active

These findings highlight the growing awareness among parents of the need to rebalance children’s daily routines.

At Youth Sport Trust, we see first-hand the impact that active, play-based learning can have through programmes such as Healthy Movers. Designed specifically for early years settings, Healthy Movers supports children to develop physical literacy, communication skills and emotional wellbeing through movement and play. It supports practitioners and parents to embed physical activity throughout the day, helping children build positive habits from the earliest possible stage.

This new guidance is an important reminder that screen use in itself is not the entire issue, but rather how it is balanced within a child’s wider daily experiences. When screen time replaces opportunities for movement and connection, we risk letting children down at a critical stage of their development

We encourage parents, carers and early years practitioners to use this guidance update as a prompt to prioritise active play and movement. For families looking for fun, off-screen ways to get active, explore our Healthy Movers at Home resources: https://www.youthsporttrust.org/healthymovers/families

By ensuring children have opportunities to move and play with others, we can support healthier, happier early childhoods and lay the foundations for lifelong wellbeing.

¹ All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 4465 adults of which 1052 are parents who have children aged 18 and under. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2nd - 4th February 2026.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).