FYI: Physically fit kids stay physically healthy
 

"If you don't challenge the systems, they get sloppy." --Dr. Panagiota
Klentrou

from www.reutershealth.com, Health eLine, 12/31/03

Physically fit kids stay physically healthy

Last Updated: 2003-12-31 14:04:56 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Alison McCook

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Kids who are less physically active and have
excess body fat have more sick days, new research reports.

These findings suggest that eating right and getting exercise affect
more than just kids' waistlines, study author Dr. Panagiota Klentrou
told Reuters Health.

She and her colleagues found that fifth graders who were physically fit
and spent more time participating in sports activities reported fewer
days of cold or flu symptoms than inactive kids did.

In contrast, kids who had more than 25 percent body fat reported more
sick days than kids carrying around less extra fat.

Klentrou, who is based at Brock University in Ontario, Canada, said she
hopes these results provide parents with an additional incentive to
encourage good habits in their kids.

Although being overweight and inactive may often seem harmless in kids,
those habits can affect how much time they spend at school, Klentrou
said. Slim and active kids "will lose less school, because they are
going to be healthier," she said.

During the study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology,
Klentrou and her colleagues asked 29 boys and 32 girls between the ages
of 10 and 11 how often they exercised, tested their body fat, and gave
them logs to record how many days per month they spent with cold and flu
symptoms. Children also completed running tests to measure their
physical fitness.

In an interview, Klentrou explained that exercise may keep kids healthy
by providing a constant source of moderate stress, strengthening their
body systems and enabling them to ward off bacteria and viruses. "If you
don't challenge the systems, they get sloppy," she said.

Excess body fat, in contrast, may weaken the body because fat requires
resources that get diverted from the body's infection fighting
machinery, she noted.

Based on the results, Klentrou recommends that parents try to encourage
kids to be active every day, eat a healthy diet, and lose weight if they
are obese.

SOURCE: Journal of Applied Physiology, December 2003.