Short Bursts of Exercise can be Highly Beneficial to Children

Researches have reported that even brief spurts of exercise performed by children has highly beneficial outcomes.

 

This has been reported after having conducted a study on 28 healthy, normal weight children. The children were instructed to carry out three minutes of moderate intensity walking every 30 minutes over a period of three hours of being seated. The results led to lower levels of blood sugar and insulin as compared to another test when the children sat for three hours without any form of exercise. 

 

On the day the children took brief walks, they did not eat any more at lunch than on the day they remained seated for the entire three hours.

 

These findings suggest that through brief spouts of activity during otherwise inactive periods, the exercise could possibly protect children against type2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

 

"We know that 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity benefits children's health," study senior author Dr Jack Yanovski, chief of the section on growth and obesity said in a media report. 

 

It can be difficult to fit longer stretches of physical activity into the day. The study indicates that even small activity breaks could have a substantial impact on children's long-term health.

 

"Sustained sedentary behaviour after a meal diminishes the muscles' ability to help clear sugar from the bloodstream," said the study first author Britni Belcher.

"That forces the body to produce more insulin, which may increase the risk for beta cell dysfunction that can lead to the onset of type 2 diabetes. Our findings suggest even short activity breaks can help overcome these negative effects, at least in the short term," Belcher explained.

 

More than one-third of children and teens are overweight or obese, which increases their risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and cancer.