There is presently a lot of attention being paid in the increase in obesity in children. Studies have shown that active children are healthier and perform better in school. We have also known for a long time that exercise as a child leads to good bone health and better weight control as an adult.
It goes beyond that. Two recent studies in prestigious journals have illustrated the benefits of exercise in children on adult health. In the journal Pediatrics a recent study of a large number of children over an extended period shows that in addition to having normal body weight that having good muscular strength as an adolescent leads to less risk of developing diabetes and heart disease as and adult. A second study in Neurology looked at fitness of youths and their performance on memory and speed psychomotor tests 25 years later. The fitness test in their youth consisted of running on a treadmill at increasing speed and slope until exhaustion. The average youth could go on for about 10 minutes. It found that for every minute more of exercise tolerance there was a measurable increase in thinking skills as an adult.
Now convinced that exercise in childhood yields a lifetime benefit we look to ways to improve fitness in kids. Many factors can influence children’s activity; access to sports facilities, parks, school programs and supportive parents. A recent study, also published in Pediatrics, looked at the affect of a mother’s physical activity on the child. The research used activity monitors in over 500 mothers and their four-year-old children. They found that the amount of activity the mother influenced the amount of activity in the child. They also found that only about half the mothers are getting enough recommended activity, and this has an affect on the child’s activity levels.
Every parent wants a healthy child and wants their child to grow into a healthy and successful adult. These recent studies show that physical activity benefits children, for both physical health and thinking skills as a child and as an adult. They also show that a mother’s activity can positively improve the child’s activity levels, increasing all the benefits of exercise.