Only nine per cent of toddlers are getting the required levels of physical activity according to data from the British Heart Foundation National Centre (BHFNC).

To counter the statistics – which revealed that the vast majority of 2-4 year-olds are not meeting the Chief Medical Officers’ (CMO) recommendations – the BHFNC Physical Activity and Health arm and National Early Years Advisory Group have teamed up to launch a manifesto.

Titled The Best Start in Life, the document suggests that children should have access to “high quality physical activity” from birth, with an emphasis on awareness, education, environment and health.

In terms of the former, the manifesto claims that “all key professionals” – including doctors and carers – and parents should understand the CMO guidelines and practical ways they can be implemented. Professionals working with families should project the importance of an active lifestyle, while contact time between early years practitioners and healthcare professionals should be maximised to sufficiently inform parents about early movement opportunities.

Education can be satisfied with the provision of ongoing and accessible physical activity and physical development training opportunities for early years practitioners and a prominent role for physical activity in the early years curriculum.

The bodies have also put forward the proposal of creating a Healthy Early Years Award/Framework to support physical development in the curriculum.

Toddlers should have access to a “safe and accessible” environment, which could be supported by more indoor and outdoor leisure facilities suitable for early years physical activity. The need for increased education for planners who develop policy for structured, unstructured, adult-led and free play opportunities is also highlighted.

Health professionals have a responsibility to track the physical activity of early years children according to the manifesto, which suggests the development of a “tool and indicator” to assess the CMO physical activity guidelines.

To show support for the manifesto, the BHFNC is asking interested parties to visit its training and resources page and contact their local MP. The full manifesto can be viewed here.