Does increasing physical activity really make a difference? Show me the evidence

Article Outline

• Copyright

In this issue of The Journal, Strong et al report the results of an extensive literature review that summarizes what is known about the effects of physical activity on the health and behavior of school-aged children. A similar Consensus Conference was held in 1993 that resulted in the recommendation that adolescents should engage in three or more sessions per week of activities that last 20 minutes or more and require moderate to vigorous levels of exertion. What have we learned in 10 years?

The information obtained from this extensive literature review was shared with individuals representing several organizations and agencies, and after vigorous debate and based on this evidence-based approach, the authors recommend that school-aged youth should participate in 60 minutes of vigorous physical activity on a daily basis.

It appears that this amount of activity will have a positive effect on the academic performance and musculoskeletal development of children. It will also have a positive effect on the adiposity in the overweight child, will decrease blood pressure in the children with hypertension, and will have a beneficial effect on lipids if they are elevated. Increasing physical activity will have no detrimental effect on safety and well-being based on the literature available to date.

Armed with this information, the practitioner can, without reservation, now recommend vigorous daily physical activity in all school-aged youth. Further research is needed to continue to document the benefits of regular, vigorous physical activity in children.