The starting point for the national Move! system was to first determine what physical functional capacity is and for which everyday challenges pupils need physical functional capacity. Based on today’s pupils’ needs, a monitoring system was created to produce information about pupils’ functional capacity and to encourage pupils, parents and professionals to improve the situation.

In 2010, the Ministry of Education and Culture and Finnish National Agency for Education commissioned the Faculty of Sport at the University of Jyväskylä to develop a national monitoring system for physical functional capacity. The Move! system has been developed in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the National Institute for Health and Welfare, and the Trade Union of Education in Finland. The Move! system started in Finnish Basic education schools in autumn 2016.

Recommendations for physical activity for school age children in Finland:

  • All 7–18 year-old children should get a minimum of 1-2 hours of various kinds of age appropriate exercise every day.
  • Sitting for more than two hours in a row should be avoided.
  • Time spent in front of a screen should be limited to a maximum of two hours per day.