Healthy Routines
Healthy routines is a broad term which includes healthy eating, physical activity, healthy sleep routine, reducing sedentary time, and sun safety.
Healthy routines:
- Help friends and family spend more time together.
- Build children’s confidence, knowledge and skills.
- Enhance children’s ability to learn.
Download the Creating Healthy Routines resource for more ideas: English | French
Check out our additional resources:
- Creating healthy routines tip sheet: English | French
- Healthy routines made easy!
Eat a variety of healthy food every day
- Eat according to Canada’s Food Guide.
- Aim for meals and snacks to be 50 per cent vegetables and fruit, 25 per cent protein foods, and the other 25 per cent to be whole grain foods.
- For more information, visit our Healthy Eating page.
Spend less time sitting
- Children under two years: screen time is not recommended.
- Children two to four-years old: limit screen time to less than one hour per day; less is better.
- Children and youth five to 17-years old: limit recreational screen time to less than two hours per day; less is better.
- Adults: limit sedentary time to eight hours or less, including no more than three hours of recreational screen time.
- Break up long periods of sitting as often as possible.
Be active every day
- Children three to four-years old need at least three hours of physical activity spread throughout the day.
- Children and teens (five to 17-years old) should do at least 60 minutes of heart-pumping physical activity every day.
- Adults 18 years and older should get at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week.
- For more information, visit our Physical Activity page.
Get enough sleep
- Have consistent bedtime and wake-up times.
- Children three to four-years old need 10 to 13 hours of uninterrupted sleep, which may include a nap.
- Children five to 13-years old need 9 to 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
- Youth 14 to 17-years old need 8 to 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
- Adults 18 to 64-years old need 7 to 9 hours of good-quality sleep on a regular basis.
- Adults 65 years and older need 7 to 8 hours of good quality sleep on a regular basis.
Be sun-safe
- Cover up. When the UV Index is 3 or higher, protect your skin as much as possible.
- Apply lots of broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen and lip balm with an SPF of 30 or more at least 20 minutes before going outside and then every two hours. Consult your health care provider for recommendations for babies under six months old.
- Wear sunglasses with UVA and UVB protection.
- For more information, visit our Sun Safety and Tanning page.
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