Edited by Katie Barnes. Email:
katiebarnes@leisuremedia.com RESEARCH ROUND-UP
Early start
Two new studies give insight into children’s exercise. We take a closer look at the fi ndings
S
etting up exercise classes that include group activities for both mothers and kids, or that are held before school, could
be a winning formula for health club operators, suggests new research.
Mum’s the word Scientists from Cambridge and Southampton universities in the UK have found there’s a direct link between the physical activity levels of mums and their children. In fact, it discovered that youngsters are not naturally active and that mothers play an important role in the amount of exercise their kids get. This suggests clubs that want to get results from younger members would benefit from creating classes where parents and their kids exercise together. The study*, published the journal
Pediatrics in March, was based on 554 mothers and their children who were aged four and not yet at school (but most went to nursey). All wore a heart-rate monitor and accelerometer continuously for seven days. The data revealed that, for every
minute of moderate-to-vigorous exercise a mum did, her child would be 10 per cent more active. Yet it was also noted that only 53 per cent of mothers performed 30 minutes of moderate-to- vigorous activity at least once a week. Co-author Kathryn Hesketh, who’s now
a research associate at University College London, told the BBC: “The more activity the mother did, the more active her child. Although it’s not possible to tell from this study whether active children were making their mothers run around them,
If a mother is active, her child is likely to be active too
it’s likely that activity in one of the pair infl uences activity in the other.” Hesketh added that, while 10 per cent
extra a week doesn’t sound like much, it’s more signifi cant when looking at exercise over a month or even a year.
Helping with ADHD Another piece of research**, published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology last month, found that before-school exercise may reduce the symptoms of ADHD in children at school and home; gym operators might look at scheduling exercise classes earlier in the day. Researchers from Michigan State
University and the University of Vermont, US, studied 202 early elementary students ranging from kindergarten years through to second grade. Some of the children showed signs of ADHD, while others did not. The children were randomly split
into two groups, with one conducting moderate exercise for 30 minutes before school, while the other group was asked to complete more sedentary tasks.
*Hesketh K et al. Activity Levels in Mothers and Their Prescool Children. Pediatrics. March 2014; **
All children in the exercise group
showed improvements in areas such as attention and mood compared to those who did no physical activity. These benefi ts applied to those with or without risk of ADHD symptoms. Lead study author Betsy Hoza told
the Wall Street Journal: “This is the fi rst large-scale study demonstration of improvements in ADHD symptoms from aerobic physical activity using a randomised controlled trial methodology.” She also said that “this shows promise as a new avenue of treatment for ADHD”, and that the results were comparable to those expected from the treatment of ADHD by a trained professional. It was suggested that further studies
should investigate how the frequency and amount of physical activity can impact on children, with the issue of age-related benefi ts also being explored. Alan Smith, chair of the kinesiology
department at Michigan State, said:“This gives schools one more good reason to incorporate physical activity into the school day.”
Hoza B et al. A Randomized Trial Examining the Effects of Aerobic Physical Activity on Attention-Defi cit/Hyperactivity Disoder Symptoms in Young Children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. September 2014. 56 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital October 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
PHOTO:
WWW.SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/VINOGRADOV ILLYA
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102