BARCELONA, Aug 1 ― New European research has found that girls who engage in moderate to high levels of physical activity as children may benefit from improved lung function as teenagers.
Carried out by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a center supported by “la Caixa,” the new study set out to investigate how physical activity during childhood and adolescence can impact lung function during the teenage years.
The researchers looked at 2,266 boys and girls participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a United Kingdom-based birth cohort study.
The children's physical activity was recorded at 11, 13 and 15 years of age. The children were asked to wear an Actigraph sensor over a seven-day period, which records periods of rest and activity. Using the measurements, the researchers were then able to split the children into three physical-activity groups ― low, moderate and high.
Lung function was analyzed using spirometry tests, which measure how much air can be breathed out in one forced breath, at 8 and 15 years of age.
The children's parents also completed questionnaires on sociodemographic, psychological and lifestyle-related factors.
The findings, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, showed that less than 7 per cent of the children achieved the level of physical activity recommended by the World Health Organization, which is a minimum of 60 minutes each day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, although boys were substantially more active than girls at all ages.
However, it was the active girls who showed improved lung function at age 15, not the active boys.
“Girls in the moderate and high physical-activity trajectories had a higher exhalation capacity ― that is, greater forced expiratory volume ― than girls in the low physical-activity trajectory,” explained lead author Célina Roda.
As to why the same results were not found in the boys, Roda adds, “growth spurts occur earlier in girls than in boys, so any effect of physical activity on lung function can be more easily observed at an earlier age in girls.”
The researchers say the study is the first to show an association between high levels of regular physical activity during childhood and higher measures of lung-function in teenage girls, although they added that the low levels of activity also found in the study are concerning.
“The high prevalence of physical inactivity observed in children is worrying. Extrapolated to the population as a whole, this is a factor that could have a considerable impact on lung function,” commented Judith Garcia Aymerich, coordinator of the study. “Strategies for promoting physical activity in childhood could be highly beneficial for the respiratory health of the population,” she added.
“Further studies that take into account environmental factors such as air pollution are needed to determine whether these factors influence the benefits of physical activity on lung function.” ― AFP-Relaxnews
