Ten medical centers, including Madison, WI, and Lawrence, KS, were recently involved in a study looking at the amount of physical activity children get. George Phillips, MD, pediatric sports medicine specialist at University of Iowa Children's Hospital, talks about the study and the results:
What did this study look at?
The study looked at moderate to vigorous physical activity—activity in which kids are getting their heart rate up, probably sweating a little bit, getting some good exercise. It tracked the amount of activity from the time these kids were nine years old through age 15. It was benchmarked against the national guidelines that recommend children and adults get a minimum of 60 minutes a day of vigorous physical activity.
Who was involved in the study?
As you mentioned, it was 10 cities across the U.S. It does seem relevant to our population because it included places like Madison and Lawrence. There were over 1,000 kids in this study.
What were study participants asked to do as part of the study?
They had the participants wear what's called an accelerometer on their waist. This is similar to the pedometers that you or I might wear when we're counting our steps as we're walking around town trying to get some exercise. These accelerometers are just a little fancier and it allowed for accurate measurement of how much activity these kids were actually getting.
How long were the children in the study followed?
They were followed about six years from age nine to 15. Measurements were taken when they age nine, 11, 12, and 15.
What were the results of the study ?
The study reinforced some of the ideas that we already had about what happens in terms of physical activity as kids get older. When you see it in black and white, the numbers are fairly striking.
For the nine-year-olds, more than 99 percent of them were getting at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each weekday and more than 97 percent of them were doing that on weekends. As these kids got older, especially after the age of 12, the numbers started to drop off, and by the time they were 15. Only 30 percent of adolescents were getting 60 minutes of activity each weekday, and only 16 percent—only one in six of these 15-year-olds—were getting the recommended amount of exercise on the weekends.
What are the implications of less physical activity for children in their teens?
I think this really shows why we have some of the problems we do in our society right now, especially with the obesity epidemic.
As these youngsters become adolescents, and then move into young adulthood, they have a lifestyle that sets them up for a decreased level of fitness. With that comes all the adult complications—obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, early heart disease. It really shows why the numbers of those conditions across the population have exploded over the past generation.
The solution to this seems simple—get teens to exercise—but how?
It does seem like its simple, and it's certainly not. The answer complex and difficult.
One of the things we should look at is setting habits when our children are even younger to capitalize on the fact that young kids really do get exercise and we want that to become part of their regular routine. What might help that is for families to think about this just like you might think about setting time for a meal together as a family in the evening, or setting time for other family activities.
Set aside a time for exercise. It's going to be harder to do as adolescents get older because they don't want to be around their parents or anybody else in their family. But at least you can set that expectation.
Watch how much screen time kids get. We talk a lot about screen time—time in front of television, computer, or handheld video game systems. Some screen time is important for relaxation, some is important for academic studies. But the more time they have in front of the screen, the less time they have being physically active.
And then finally, as a community we need to make sure that we are preserving opportunities for physical education classes on a daily basis in our schools, and we're also looking to partner with our schools to preserve other opportunities for exercise.
How much exercise is necessary to make a difference?
That is the standard—to make difference. Those guidelines were updated in the past couple of years. They recommend 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity is optimal for overall health. But, any exercise is good exercise, and it doesn't have to be all in one setting. It can be five minutes here, 10 minutes there. All of those things that you hear about parking your car a little further away in the parking lot, taking the stairs instead of the elevator—all of thrm apply to add more exercise to our daily routine.
What role will physical activity play as children become adults?
This is a great example of what, in medicine, we're starting to call pediatric determinants of adult disease. That's a fancy way of saying the things that happen in children's health does have a long-term impact on their health as adults.
We see this in osteoporosis. There are certain risk factors that, if modified appropriately in childhood, decrease the risk of osteoporosis as an adult. If we can preserve a good physical, active lifestyle with a healthy diet partnered with it, we can reduce significantly the risk of heart disease and other complications as we get into adulthood. What you do as a child sets up what your health is going to be like as an adult. |
