Systematic review of the health benefits of physical activity and fitness in school-aged children and youth International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Full Text

Strengthening the heart muscle can help ward off heart disease—the leading cause of death in the United States, according to the U.S. Welk GJ, Jackson AW, Morrow J, James R, Haskell WH, Meredith MD, Cooper KH. The association of health-related fitness with indicators of academic performance in Texas schools. Stephens LJ, Schaben LA. The effect of interscholastic sports participation on academic achievement of middle level school activities. Pontifex MB, Raine LB, Johnson CR, Chaddock L, Voss MW, Cohen NJ, Kramer AF, Hillman CH. Cardiorespiratory fitness and the flexible modulation of cognitive control in preadolescent children.

Many observational studies have examined the relation between physical activity and continuous measures of bone mineral density such as bone mineral content values in grams, bone density values in g/cm2, and cortical bone area measures in cm2 (see review ). However, no observational studies in the literature search met the systematic review criteria of predicting a low bone mineral density as a dichotomous outcome. Several of the observational studies examining overweight and obesity presented analyses that were stratified by sex [56–58, 60, 64, 67, 71, 73–75, 77, 79, 81].

Additionally, exercise can increase the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain . Exercise has been shown to improve your mood and decrease feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress . Arthritis and exercise Exercise can reduce some of the symptoms of arthritis, and improve joint mobility and strength. Exercise may also change levels of chemicals in your brain, such as serotonin, endorphins and stress hormones.

Get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. The guidelines suggest that you spread out this exercise during the course of a week. To provide even greater health benefit and to assist with weight loss or maintaining weight loss, at least 300 minutes a week is recommended. Being active for short periods of time throughout the day can add up to provide health benefit. Regular physical activity can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetesand metabolic syndrome.

No differences in performance or brain activation were noted for the wait-list control group. These findings suggest an increase in cognitive preparation processes in support of a more effective working memory network resulting from prolonged participation in physical activity. For children in a school setting, regular participation in physical activity as part of an after-school program is particularly beneficial for tasks that require the use of working memory. Two ERP studies (Hillman et al., 2009; Pontifex et al., 2011) have focused on aspects of cognition involved in action monitoring.

On the contrary, regular exercise has been shown to increase your metabolic rate, which can burn more calories to help you lose weight . One review of 19 studies found that active people who stopped exercising regularly experienced significant increases in symptoms of depression and anxiety, even after only a few weeks . Being active has been shown to have many health benefits, both physically and mentally. Try to find the time for some regular, vigorous exercise for extra health and fitness benefits. Variations in the effects of age, sex, and exercise dose on changes in obesity measures in response to exercise training have not been systematically addressed in the literature.

As summarized in Table 11 , a total of 11 experimental studies examining changes in bone mineral density in response to exercise training were retrieved in the systematic review [55, 88–94, 100–103]. Two of these studies presented identical data on the same group of participants, Slot Depo Linkaja and were therefore presented as a single study in the table . The physical activity programs employed in these interventions typically consisted of moderate-to-high strain anaerobic activities such as impact resistance training, high impact weight bearing, and jumping.