Guidelines set out by the Department of Health (2011) call for interventions to increase children’s physical activity levels, starting from birth. Early years children should be given ample opportunities for unrestricted movement (such as crawling and water-based play) to increase their physiological development and encourage bonding with others. Drawing on robust research, the report argued that levels of physical activity required in childhood to help achieve healthy weight, bone and cardiometabolic health and psychological well-being are higher than previously estimated. Unstructured play is perceived as vital to achieving this, as young children ‘need the freedom to create their own opportunities.
