Children who walk and cycle regularly are less prone to obesity, study states
| May 21, 2019, 11:08 IST
In today's age of technology, it's rather obvious that most children prefer to spend their time indoors glued to their mobile or tablet screens instead of playing outside as children did before. This means that they don't get the amount of exercise that they're supposed to. But playing outside isn't the only form of exercise your children can opt for. A study states that if your child walks or cycles often (say to and from school) they're a lot less likely to be prone to obesity.
On the contrary, children who go by cars or by public transport are at a risk of being obese later on in life. As per the study, children who actively made their way to school had much lower body fat levels and so were less likely to be overweight. The researchers also found that when it comes to children, physical activity was a better indicator of how fit the children were instead of measuring their Body Mass Index (BMI) because that takes into consideration fat as well as muscle.
The researchers tried to look at links between extra-curricular physical activities, daily commuting to school and playing sports, and obesity in primary grade children. “Both BMI itself and the points at which high BMI is associated with poor health vary with age, sex and ethnicity,” said the study’s first author Lander Bosch. “While adjustments have been made in recent years to account for these variations, BMI remains a flawed way to measure the health risks associated with obesity,” Bosch said.
The researchers surveyed nearly 2000 children for the study. When they looked at their BMI they found that children who participated in sports regularly were more likely to be obese as compared to children who didn't play sports as often, as per BMI standards. “The link between frequent participation in sport and obesity levels has generated inconsistent findings in previous research, but many of these studies were looking at BMI only,” Bosch added.
“However, when looking at body fat instead, we showed there was a trend whereby children who were not active were more likely to be overweight or obese. It’s likely that when looking at the BMI, some inactive children aren’t classified as obese due to reduced muscle mass,” he noted. The researchers stuck to their claims that just actively commuting to school could help tackle obesity in young children. “It’s something so easy to implement and it makes such a big difference,” said Bosch. Stay tuned for more updates.
On the contrary, children who go by cars or by public transport are at a risk of being obese later on in life. As per the study, children who actively made their way to school had much lower body fat levels and so were less likely to be overweight. The researchers also found that when it comes to children, physical activity was a better indicator of how fit the children were instead of measuring their Body Mass Index (BMI) because that takes into consideration fat as well as muscle.
The researchers tried to look at links between extra-curricular physical activities, daily commuting to school and playing sports, and obesity in primary grade children. “Both BMI itself and the points at which high BMI is associated with poor health vary with age, sex and ethnicity,” said the study’s first author Lander Bosch. “While adjustments have been made in recent years to account for these variations, BMI remains a flawed way to measure the health risks associated with obesity,” Bosch said.
The researchers surveyed nearly 2000 children for the study. When they looked at their BMI they found that children who participated in sports regularly were more likely to be obese as compared to children who didn't play sports as often, as per BMI standards. “The link between frequent participation in sport and obesity levels has generated inconsistent findings in previous research, but many of these studies were looking at BMI only,” Bosch added.
“However, when looking at body fat instead, we showed there was a trend whereby children who were not active were more likely to be overweight or obese. It’s likely that when looking at the BMI, some inactive children aren’t classified as obese due to reduced muscle mass,” he noted. The researchers stuck to their claims that just actively commuting to school could help tackle obesity in young children. “It’s something so easy to implement and it makes such a big difference,” said Bosch. Stay tuned for more updates.