The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.
Exercise and sports appear to help kids avoid mental health problems as they grow into young adults, a new study says.
Young children who participated in sports teams and physical education classes were less likely to develop problems like depression, anxiety and addiction as they aged into teenagers, researchers reported in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
For every hour per day a child exercised at age 11, they had a 12% lower risk of being diagnosed with any mental health problem before age 18, results show.
“Physical activity could be used as a strategy for the prevention of mental health problems, especially before and during adolescence, and should spark increased interest among policymakers and motivate healthcare professionals to incorporate physical activity in treatment programs,” concluded the research team led by Dr. Oskar Lundgren, an adjunct associate professor with Linköping University Hospital in Sweden.
For the study, researchers analyzed data on nearly 16,400 children born in Sweden between October 1997 and October 1999.
Parents reported their children’s physical activity levels and organized sports participation at the ages of 5, 8 and 11, and their mental health was tracked up to the age of 18.
In all, 15% of the children were diagnosed with at least one mental health issue, and 4% had three or more.
Results showed clear differences in the benefits of exercise on the mental health of boys and girls.
For example, daily physical activity at age 11 reduced the risk of depression among girls by 18% but by 29% among boys, results show.
Taking part in organized sports lowered risk of a first-time mental health problem for both boys (23% lower) and girls (12%), researchers found.
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