Playtime is a must for kids’ future health

New research suggest even 10 minutes of playtime and vigorous exercise has major impact on their wellbeing

Turns out, daily playtime doesn’t just help children relax – there are many more benefits attached to it. As little as 10 minutes of scheduled play can ultimately reduce their risk of developing diabetes or heart diseases later on in life, suggests a new study.

In fact, scientists recommend replacing light-intensity physical activity with brief periods of vigorous exercise as it can provide significant cardiometabolic benefits in kids - particularly in those with large waist measurements and elevated insulin levels, reported Daily Mail.

The study, conducted at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, USA, analysed data from more than 11,000 children aged between four and 18. It focused on records that included the age, gender, level of physical activity and at least one biomarker of cardiometabolic risk. The biomarkers included weight circumference, blood pressure and bloodstream levels of 'good' and 'bad' cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and insulin.

As it turned out, researchers found 32 associations between biomarkers and physical activity, out of a possible 360, all of which were related to reduced waists and insulin. The children who participated in vigorous exercise had smaller waists and reduced insulin.

“The results suggest that substituting modest amounts of vigorous physical activity for longer-duration light exercise may have cardiometabolic benefits above and beyond those conveyed by moderate activity,” said lead author Dr Justin Moore, an associate professor at Wake Forest School of Medicine. “But as vigorous activity was independently associated with only two of the markers examined, it may be that its truly meaningful benefits are limited, relative to less-intense exercise.”



Another study from McMaster University in Canada found that short bursts of intense exercise produce similar results to traditional longer-duration workouts. Dr Moore added he’d conduct further studies with additional variables like dietary and genetic data, so that the relationship between various levels of exercise and cardiometabolic biomarkers is better established.

“If such studies provide robust results, a relatively brief but intense dose of physical activity - perhaps as little as 10 minutes day, which is certainly feasible for most youth - could turn out to be part of a ‘prescription’ for children to achieve or maintain cardiac and metabolic health,” he said.

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