Engaging in less than 10 minutes of vigorous exercise as part of daily physical activity appears to provide increased heart-protective health benefits in children and teens, a Canadian study suggests.
Bouts of high-intensity physical activity - such as running, swimming or playing soccer - are superior to longer periods of light and moderate exercise in reducing the risk factors that set kids on a path toward cardiovascular disease.
The findings were published online Monday by the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
In the study of 605 Alberta schoolchildren, ages nine to 17, researchers found seven minutes a day of intense physical activity was associated with significant reductions in body weight and blood pressure levels, as well as increased fitness.
When it came to waist circumference, participants who did the highest amount of vigorous exercise each day pared their midsections by seven centimetres on average.
Overweight subjects in that group reduced their waistlines by five centimetres.
"That is a huge difference," said principal researcher Jonathan McGavock, an exercise physiologist at the Manitoba Institute of Child Health.
sa国际传媒's physical activity guidelines recommend 60 minutes of moderate-to vigorous intensity exercise daily for children ages five to 17.
McGavock urged parents to involve children in strenuous outdoor games - exercise where "they are breathing hard, it's increasing their body temperature, they're red in the face" - to increase the health benefits.
