Physically Active Teenagers Have Lower Risk Of Becoming Overweight Adults

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Main Category: Sports Medicine / Fitness
Also Included In: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness;  Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 10 Jan 2008 - 10:00 PDT

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A teenager who is physically active and takes part in school or extra-curricular physical activities is less likely to become overweight as a young adult, compared to teenagers who are not physically active during their adolescence, according to an article in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (JAMA/Archives).

The authors explain that approximately 16% of American teenagers are overweight. 85% of obese teenagers become obese adults. "In the pediatric population, adolescent overweight is the best predictor of adulthood overweight; however, to date, no single intervention in adolescence has proved to be effective in reducing the transition to adult overweight."

David Menschik, M.D., M.P.H., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (at the time of the study), and now at the Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, Md., and team looked at 3,345 teenagers in grades 8 to 12. They had all taken part in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. They all took part in an in-home survey in which they reported how often they were involved in physical activities in and outside school. Subsequently, they reported their weight and height five years later in 2001/2002.

The researchers wrote "Increasing participation in certain extracurricular physical activities and physical education decreased the likelihood of young adulthood overweight. Regarding extracurricular physical activities, the likelihood of being an overweight adult was reduced most (i.e. 48 percent) by performing certain wheel-related activities (i.e. rollerblading, roller skating, skateboarding or bicycling) more than four times per week."

The researchers worked out that there was a 5% lower chance of becoming an overweight adult for each weekday that they took part in physical education at school. Those who had physical education every weekday (Monday through to Friday) were 28% less likely to become overweight young adults.

The impact of physical activity was more pronounced for those adolescents who began at normal weight compared to those who were overweight at the beginning of the study. The researchers suggest that this means that exercise is more effective in maintaining bodyweight rather than helping teenagers lose weight. They write "Accordingly, a greater emphasis on prevention, rather than intervention, may be well warranted in approaching the obesity epidemic."

The authors conclude "In the current climate of decreasing adolescent physical activity in and out of school, it is important for policy makers to have firm evidence that justifies increasing time and bolstering resources for quality exercise programs and sports. In view of an obesity epidemic costing the United States an estimated $117 billion annually, policy makers now have evidence that a relatively low-cost strategy may offer a long-lasting solution."

"Adolescent Physical Activities as Predictors of Young Adult Weight"
David Menschik, MD, MPH; Saifuddin Ahmed, PhD; Miriam H. Alexander, MD, MPH; Robert Wm. Blum, MD, MPH, PhD
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162(1):29-33.
Click here to view abstract online

Written by - Christian Nordqvist
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