What This Means
This study looked at how young children's whole 24-hour day, including sleep, sitting or being inactive, light activity, and more vigorous activity, relates to their social and emotional well-being. It used data from over 2,000 children aged 1 to 4 years. Activity was measured with wearable accelerometers, sleep was reported by parents, and behaviour and emotions were assessed with a common questionnaire covering emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems, and prosocial behaviour.
The researchers found that how children's day was divided among these behaviours was linked to all five areas of social-emotional functioning. The pattern linked with the best outcomes, called the 'Goldilocks day', was about 12 hours of sleep, around 4.5 hours of sedentary time, almost 6 hours of light activity, and roughly 1.4 to 1.6 hours of moderate-to-vigorous activity. The activity amounts were higher than the minimum levels in current movement guidelines.
Because the study captured a single point in time, it cannot show that changing a child's day would cause better social-emotional outcomes. The authors stress that the findings are not recommendations, but describe patterns associated with more favourable outcomes in this group of children. This research suggests that the balance of the whole day may matter for early social-emotional development.