Children Need More Exercise

[Angel]

Children and teenagers may need to exercise more than what is currently recommended.

International guidelines suggest young people should exercise at least moderately for one hour each day. But research from Norway reveals that's not enough to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The study analyzed data from 1,732 9-year-old and 15-year-old school children from Denmark, Estonia and Portugal who were part of the European Youth Heart Study. Researchers measured risk factors for cardiovascular disease including blood pressure, weight, waist circumference, insulin resistance and cholesterol. They then determined a combined risk factor for each child. Participants' physical activity was monitored for four consecutive days using an accelerometer -- a device strapped to children's hips to measure body movement.

Results show the combined risk factor score for cardiovascular disease decreased as physical activity increased. The study showed the lowest scores in 9-year-olds who had 116 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity and 15-year-olds who exercised 88 minutes a day.

Researchers say there should be new guidelines that call for one and a half hours or more of moderate intensity exercise per day for young people.

"To prevent clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors, physical activity levels should be higher than the current international guidelines of at least one hour per day of physical activity of at least moderate intensity," the authors write. "Achieving 90 minutes of daily activity might be necessary for children to prevent insulin resistance, which seems to be the central feature for clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors."