Frequent Breaks From Sedentary Behavior Make Kids Healthier

 A latest Canadian study claims that frequent interruptions from sedentary behavior may improve the health of kids.

The study  reported in journal PLOS ONE states that more than half of the waking hours of Canadian children is spent in sedentary behavior such as video games or watching television. Earlier studies involving adult populations have suggested that taking frequent breaks from sedentary times are linked with lower global health risks.

"We already know that sitting too much is bad for kids," says Travis Saunders, who earned his PhD at the University of Ottawa and is a researcher at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute. "But now, for the first time, we have evidence that simply getting up more frequently is associated with better health in this age group."

 The study focused on kids with a family history of Obesity. The researchers looked at two risk factors namely type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. They worked on data of another Quality cohort study that involved 500 kids residing in Quebec. Using accelerometer the researchers accumulated data about the children's physical activities, breaks and the time they spent in sedentary activities for a week.

Apart from this, they measured the global health risk indicators that included waist, circumference, body mass index, fasting insulin, fasting glucose, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol and C-reactive proteins. The participants reported the time they spent engaged in computers, watching television and playing video games during the 7-day period.

"Increased screen time poses a persistent health risk for kids as a rule," said Saunders. "But what's also interesting in this study is that video-gaming was associated with higher risk scores for boys whereas television viewing was linked to higher risk scores for girls."

The study says that it is the number of breaks and not the duration that has a positive effect on the health of the children.