Participation of Associate Professor at NKUA, Fotini Venetsanou, in a collective article on the movement behaviour of children under the age of 5 published in the Lancet journal

As part of the SUNRISE Study Europe Group, Ms Fotini Venetsanou, Associate Professor at the School of Physical Education and Sport Science of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, participated in a collective commentary paper entitled ‘Practical steps needed to achieve impact of the WHO 2019 movement behaviour guidelines for children under the age of 5: the SUNRISE Study Europe Group evaluation’, which appeared in The Lancet journal.

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) published guidelines for 24-hour movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviour including screen time, and sleep) among children under 5. In this article, the SUNRISE Study Europe Group examines whether essential activities in response to these instructions were done across Europe using the following questions: (i.) Do European nations have national guidelines for the movement behaviours of children under 5, or have they adopted the WHO guidelines? (ii.) Do they have adequate surveillance of the movement behaviours in these age groups? (iii.) Do they have specific movement behaviour policies for children under 5? Based on the findings from the examination of the above questions, the article provides a practical guide to the actions that ought to be taken at the national level to ensure that physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep of young children in Europe are in line with the need to protect their health.

You can read the full article here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762%2824%2900035-8/fulltext