Recommended exercise for children may not fight obesity: Experts
Washington, Oct 11 : A daily dose of one hour of moderate exercise for children
recommended by health experts may not be enough to tackle the rising problem of childhood
obesity, suggests a group of researchers.
Conducted by researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth, UK, the
EarlyBird study has followed the development of over 200 children in Plymouth born in 1995
and 1996.
At the age of five to eight years, 42 per cent of boys and only 11 per cent of girls
were found to meet the government recommended daily exercise level of one hour of moderate
exercise.
Also, the researchers found that exercise alone didn't have any positive effect on
weight control over time, although the research team maintained that this does not qualify
that exercise has no health benefits for children.
In fact, in comparison with peers who took less exercise, children who met the
recommended activity levels fared better for blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides
and insulin resistance, which is a recognised precursor to type 2 diabetes later in
life.
But, still the researchers believed that improving children's diets would be likely to
have a greater impact on their overall health and weight.
They have claimed that the children's diets have "changed markedly" over the last two
decades,
" We are keen to stress that children should be encouraged to be active, because our
study showed that regular exercise improved metabolic health even without improving BMI,"
said Dr. Brad Metcalf, researcher in the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the
Peninsula Medical School.
The study was conducted on 212 children from 54 schools in Plymouth, with a follow up
of four years. Once a year the children were tested by wearing small monitors that
recorded their exercise levels.
The amount of physical activity achieved by children each day varied considerably -
some only managed 10 minutes of moderate exercise, while others went over 90 minutes.
"The results for girls are in line with past research that shows that young girls do
not exercise as much as boys. To some degree any child's activity level can be affected by
biology - some children are more naturally active than others and this might explain why
there is such a marked difference between boys and girls. At present it is unclear whether
exercise guidelines should be adjusted for this difference, or whether girls should be
encouraged to exercise more," said Metcalf.
The research has been published in the most recent issue of the journal "Archives of
Diseases in Childhood."
ENDS NV
--ANI
