Moving your body

Moving regularly makes you stronger, helps you sleep and is good for your mood. The best activity is the one you enjoy enough to keep doing, and in a hot climate that often means getting creative.

How much movement

• WHO recommends that children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 do at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily.
• The NHS describes this as an average of at least 60 minutes a day across the week, so a big Saturday hike can balance a busy Tuesday.
• Ages 5 to 17 should also include activities that strengthen muscle and bone at least 3 times a week.
• WHO's adult guideline (18 to 64) is at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week, or a mix, plus muscle strengthening on 2 or more days.
• Break up long periods of sitting or lying down, for example by standing and stretching between study blocks.

What counts

• Moderate activity makes you warmer and breathe harder but you can still talk: brisk walking, cycling, swimming, dancing, skating.
• Vigorous activity makes it hard to say more than a few words: running, fast swimming, a competitive football or basketball match, padel rallies.
• Muscle and bone strengthening includes jumping, gymnastics, martial arts, sit-ups, press-ups and resistance bands.
• The NHS says young people can use weights for resistance exercise if a qualified adult trains them to use weights correctly and supervises them.
• Walking to the shops, carrying groceries and taking the stairs all add up.

Why it is worth it

• WHO says physical activity promotes bone health and is linked to better fitness, heart and metabolic health, and mental health in young people.
• In adults, regular activity is linked to better mental health, thinking skills and sleep, and lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.
• Higher sitting time in young people is linked to poorer health and shorter sleep.
• Movement is about what your body can do, not how it looks.

Staying active in the heat

• Schedule outdoor exercise early in the morning or in the evening, and avoid the middle of the day when the sun is strongest.
• Start gradually and build up your pace, especially when the weather first gets hot.
• Drink water before, during and after, wear loose light-coloured clothes, and use sunscreen.
• Stop and get to a cool place if you feel faint or weak, and seek medical help if symptoms do not settle.
• Indoor options for summer: swimming in shaded or indoor pools, mall walking, climbing walls, indoor courts, home workouts, dance classes or skipping in an air-conditioned room.

Finding what you enjoy

• Try a sport or activity you have never done: martial arts, padel, cycling, desert hiking in winter, swimming, or a dance style.
• Moving with friends or family makes it easier to keep going; a walk after dinner counts.
• Short bursts matter: 10 minutes of skipping or a brisk walk between classes all add to your daily total.
• If you have a health condition or injury, ask a doctor or physiotherapist what suits you.