A research group at the University of Helsinki has charted a link between the amount of exercise that children get and the presence of stress hormones.
“The increase of stress hormone levels in stressful situations was lower in more active children than in others,” explained Silja Martikainen, the lead author of the dissertation.
On the other hand, more sedentary children in the study experienced a surge in stress hormone levels in socially tense situations. Children can be overwhelmed in situations that cause a powerful physiological stress reaction, the researchers said.
The study grouped the children based on how much they exercised. The children who were most active on average engaged in more than one hour of physical activity, such as running.
The study, which is to be published in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, looked at the activity of children over a one-week period. The researchers also examined their subjects’ stress hormone levels in tense situations.
“They were asked to perform calculations and tell short stories to a panel of two people. We thought that performing in front of strangers and being evaluated would be stressful for them. They could also face similar situations in the school environment,” Martikainen said.
Researchers studied a sample of about 250 eight-year olds. The study is the first to uncover a link between physical activity and stress hormone responses in children.
Play also a good form of exercise
The dissertation pointed out that frequent exercise did not necessarily have to mean some form of organised sport. The researchers said that physical activity should be something that children enjoy.
“Free play could be a very good alternative and could even become a form of high intensity exercise,” Martikainen suggested,
She said that in recent years research has provided more evidence of the link between physical activity and emotional wellbeing.
“There is a link between exercise and the symptoms of depression and anxiety. More exercise helps reduce these symptoms in both adults and children,” she declared.