Sport allows children to avoid many diseases Bashny.Net

Research conducted by the laboratory of human performance at the University of Appalachia at the research campus in Concord, North Carolina, show that an increase in the level of physical activity brings to children immediate benefits, including a reduction of body fat, increased muscle strength and reduced risk factors for major diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other disorders associated with metabolism and unhealthy lifestyle.

Head of the laboratory is doctor of philosophy member of the American College of sports medicine David Neman, who is also a Professor of health and sport Sciences at the Medical College of Appalachia.

Although Neman usually works with professional athletes and adult volunteers, several recent studies have given him the opportunity to study the effect of physical activity on children's health, one of which was held in China.

Beibei Luo from the laboratory of sport and health Sciences of Ministry of education and Shanghai sports University, is a visiting doctoral student, who is currently working in the laboratory of human performance of Appalachian. She is the author of the study "Effectiveness of a 16-week diet and exercise in the metabolic syndrome in obese Chinese children aged 11 — 13 years", published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science.





Nieman and other members of the Shanghai center for physical culture and health surveillance students are co-authors of this work.

To participate in this study were invited to complete 200 Chinese children, which were divided into two groups. The first group went to a summer camp where children were trained in the morning and afternoon for three hours a day in such disciplines as swimming, running, Cycling and ping-pong. The second group had to comply with their usual way of life. Both groups consumed the same daily amount of calories 1600-2000. On average, children in the summer camp lost six to eight pounds or 13 to 17 pounds.

"The combination of physical activity and weight loss made it possible to minimize the main risk factors," said Neman. "We saw a normalization of blood pressure and improving insulin sensitivity. Participants were better able to control the level of glucose and demonstrated a decrease in total cholesterol. Thus, the metabolic health of these children improved significantly in just six weeks."

In another study, conducted in the framework of the Initiative STEM BioMoto, laboratory Nieman studied seven - and eight-graders from Charlotte with a whole Arsenal of fitness tests. They found that one of the key issues for these young people is the level of body fat.

BioMoto is a program sponsored by the biotechnology Center of North Carolina and the Golden Leaf Foundation, which for example, biotechnology and Motorsport gives a better understanding of the basic concepts and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. One of the priorities of this program is also physical training.

Students from four school systems were invited in the research campus of North Carolina to pass fitness tests at the beginning and end of the school year. Team Neman measured body composition, muscular strength and level of aerobic and anaerobic training using systems like the BOD Pod (a tool for compositional analysis of body weight), the Lode Ergometer and treadmills, are equipped with metabolic equipment to measure the IPC (maximum oxygen consumption). In General, the same set of fitness tests used for riders of team Hendrick MotorSports, one of the most successful teams in NASCAR (National Association stock car racing).

The average age of students was 13 years. Their body mass index (BMI) were equal to the average of 22.4 for boys and 22.7 for girls. According to the chart growth-weighted index developed by the Centers for control and prevention of diseases, almost half of the boys and four of the 10 girls were overweight or obese. Analyzing the results for all 482 students (285 boys and 197 girls) who completed both rounds of testing for the first biennium of the program Biomoto, the team Neman came to the conclusion that the higher the fat content in the body of the child, the less their aerobic and anaerobic physical training. In the course of the program, tests showed a positive trend in reducing body fat and improving strength and overall health.

"The results of all tests show that obesity at such a young age immediately affects the health and physical well-being of children," said Neman. "The good news is that with proper external monitoring of the activity level of most children, regardless of the type of exercise, happily engaged in the sport, receiving, thus, the benefit in both the short and long term."

Source: sportmedicine.ru