The study observed more than 1,700 children at either age 9 or 15 from schools in Denmark, Estonia and Portugal, and calculated a cardiovascular disease risk factor score from their blood pressure, weight and cholesterol levels.
Each child wore a device that monitored how active they were. Scientists found their risk factor scores were found to be inversely proportional to increased levels of physical activity. The lowest scores among the 9-year-old group were found in kids who engaged in 116 minutes of moderate to intense activity a day, and the 15-year-old group were found to have the lowest risk factors when they exercised for 88 minutes daily.
Researcher and Professor Lars Bo Anderson said that these levels of exercise, which average out to 90 minutes of walking at around 2 miles per hour, could be spread out through the day rather than done all at once.
Anderson and his coauthors said that physical activity was vital to protecting younger generations from heart disease, obesity, and the other fatal illnesses linked to sedentary lifestyles.
"We have engineered a society that does not exercise; kids as well as adults," said study coauthor Professor Chris Riddoch, head of the London Sports Institute at Middlesex University. "Every little bit helps. If we are not successful then the next generation of adults will be less healthy than we are, and we are no role model."
In addition to the activities suggested by the study authors -- like having kids walk or ride bicycles to school rather than be driven there -- children can benefit from school decision-makers acting in their best interests. Lately, schools, which have long been a prime source of junk food for children, have been considering moves such as providing healthy lunch choices and banning soft drink sales on campuses.
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