Tools

Activity check

Does your week reach the physical activity targets for your age? Indian targets (ICMR-NIN 2024) from 5 years; WHO's for babies, young children and pregnancy, where ICMR-NIN gives no numbers. From 15 years it also gives your IPAQ score. Everything is calculated on your device; nothing you type is sent or stored.

Age

Think about the last 7 days. Count all of it, short spells included: at work, at home, travelling and in your free time.

Think about the last 7 days. A parent can answer with the child.

For a parent: think about a typical day (24 hours).

Vigorous activity

Hard effort that makes it hard to talk: running, jogging, jumping rope, aerobics, competitive sport, fast cycling, heavy lifting or digging.

On how many days?

Moderate activity

Some effort: you breathe deeper and faster but can still talk. Yogasanas and pranayama, gardening, gentle swimming, cycling at a regular pace, badminton, table tennis, carrying light loads. Do not count walking here.

On how many days?

Walking

All walking: at work, at home, to get from place to place, and for exercise or leisure. Brisk walking (3–6 km an hour) is moderate activity.

On how many days?

60 minutes of energetic activity

Anything that makes you breathe harder and your heart beat faster: running games, sports, cycling, skipping, dancing, brisk walking, PE. Add up all the time in a day.

On how many of the last 7 days did it add up to 60 minutes or more?

Hard (vigorous) activity

So hard you cannot talk freely: running, football, kabaddi, jumping rope, swimming laps, fast cycling.

On how many days?

Muscle strengthening

Activities that make muscles and bones work hard: climbing, jumping, skipping rope, gymnastics, push-ups, tug of war.

Working all the major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, arms): weights, resistance bands, push-ups, squats, heavy gardening.

On how many days?

Strength and balance

Activities that build strength and steadiness: lunges, walking backwards, dancing, standing on one leg, step-ups, getting up from a chair without using your hands, yogasanas that train balance.

On how many days?

Sitting (optional)

On a weekday: at a desk, at meals, travelling seated, reading or watching TV.

Screen time for fun (optional)

TV, phone, tablet and games, not schoolwork.

Is your baby moving about yet?

Rolling, crawling or shuffling from place to place.

Active play, any intensity

Moving about, standing, walking, climbing, running, dancing: all of it in the day, added up.

Of that, energetic play

Running, jumping, chasing games, riding a tricycle fast: breathing harder.

Strapped in for more than 1 hour at a stretch?

In a pram, stroller, high chair, car seat, or carried strapped to someone.

Screen time

Sitting watching TV, videos or a phone, or playing games on a screen.

Sleep in 24 hours

Night sleep and naps together.

ICMR-NIN advises seeing a doctor before starting an exercise programme if you have heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, osteoporosis or obesity, if you have been inactive, or if you are over 40 and plan vigorous exercise. Start low and build up gradually; stop and rest if you feel breathless, pain, nausea or a headache.

Targets
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Answer the questions to see your result.

    IPAQ short form
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    Answer the three activity questions.

    IPAQ details
    DaysMin/dayMETMET-min/week

      The targets by age

      AgeActivityAlsoSource
      Under 1Active several times a day, especially floor play; before moving about, at least 30 min tummy timeNo screens; not strapped in for more than 1 h at a time; sleep 14–17 h (0–3 months), 12–16 h (4–11 months)WHO 2019
      1–2 yearsAt least 180 min a day, any intensityNo screens at 1, at most 1 h at 2; sleep 11–14 hWHO 2019
      3–4 yearsAt least 180 min a day, of which at least 60 min energeticScreens at most 1 h; sleep 10–13 hWHO 2019
      5–19 yearsAt least 60 min a day of moderate-to-vigorous activityVigorous activity and strength training on 3 or more daysICMR-NIN 2024
      20–60 years30–60 min moderate on at least 5 days, or 15 min vigorous on at least 5 days, or a mixMuscle strengthening, all muscle groups, on 2 or more daysICMR-NIN 2024
      Over 60As for 20–60Also strength and balance activities on 3 or more daysICMR-NIN 2024
      Pregnancy and after birthAt least 150 min moderate a weekInclude muscle strengthening; vigorous activity if you did it before pregnancyWHO 2020

      Some activity is better than none, and every minute counts. Self-reported activity tends to run high: in validation studies the IPAQ short form overestimated activity measured by devices.

      Common questions

      How much physical activity is recommended for Indian adults?

      The ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024) recommend 30 to 60 minutes of moderate-intensity activity, such as brisk walking, on at least 5 days a week, or 15 minutes of vigorous activity on at least 5 days, or a mix, plus muscle-strengthening exercise for all muscle groups on at least 2 days. Over 60, add strength and balance activities on 3 or more days. This is close to WHO (150 to 300 minutes a week), with the extra point of spreading it over 5 days.

      How much activity do children need?

      ICMR-NIN (2024): from 5 to 19 years, at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity a day, with vigorous activity and strength training on at least 3 days a week. ICMR-NIN gives no numbers under 5, so this check uses WHO (2019): children aged 1 to 4 need at least 180 minutes a day of activity of any intensity (from 3 years, at least 60 of them energetic), and babies need floor play and, before they move about, at least 30 minutes of tummy time a day.

      Why does this check use WHO for babies, young children and pregnancy?

      India first: the targets come from the ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024) wherever they give numbers, which is from 5 years. For children under 5 and in pregnancy ICMR-NIN gives no minutes or days (in pregnancy it advises enough exercise with 2 to 3 hours of rest in the day), so this check uses WHO.

      Does walking count?

      Yes. ICMR-NIN counts brisk walking at 3 to 6 km an hour as moderate activity, and household, work and travel activity count, not only exercise. Walking slower than 3 km an hour is light activity, so if most of your walking is slow, read your minutes as generous.

      What is the IPAQ and what is a MET-minute?

      The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (short form) is a 7-question survey of the last 7 days, used in studies worldwide from 15 to 69 years. A MET is a multiple of resting energy use: IPAQ counts walking as 3.3, moderate activity as 4 and vigorous activity as 8. MET-minutes are METs multiplied by minutes. 600 MET-minutes a week is roughly 150 minutes of moderate activity.

      Why can the IPAQ level and the target check disagree?

      They answer different questions. IPAQ sorts people into Low, Moderate or High by a mix of days and MET-minutes, and drops any day with less than 10 minutes. The target check counts every minute and also asks about muscle strengthening, which IPAQ does not.

      How is this check different from the original IPAQ?

      The original IPAQ asks only about activity done for at least 10 minutes at a time. This page asks about all of it, because short spells count too (WHO has counted every minute since 2020, and ICMR-NIN suggests walking 5 to 10 minutes every few hours). The IPAQ score here then follows the IPAQ scoring protocol: a day with under 10 minutes counts as zero, more than 180 minutes a day counts as 180, and answers adding up to more than 16 hours a day are not scored. Walking counts towards the target minutes, as brisk walking is moderate-intensity activity.

      Sources6
      1. ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition. Dietary Guidelines for Indians. Hyderabad: ICMR-NIN; 2024. Guideline 10, pp. 69-72.
      2. Bull FC, et al. World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Br J Sports Med 2020;54:1451-62.
      3. WHO. Guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age. Geneva: WHO; 2019.
      4. Craig CL, et al. International Physical Activity Questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2003;35:1381-95.
      5. IPAQ Research Committee. Guidelines for data processing and analysis of the IPAQ, short and long forms. November 2005.
      6. Lee PH, et al. Validity of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF): a systematic review. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2011;8:115.

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