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Physical activity as a preventive measure for coronary heart disease risk factors in early childhood
Author(s) -
Sääkslahti Arja,
Numminen Pirkko,
Varstala Väinö,
Helenius Hans,
Tammi Anne,
Viikari Jorma,
Välimäki Ilkka
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.575
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1600-0838
pISSN - 0905-7188
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2004.00347.x
Subject(s) - medicine , physical activity , coronary heart disease , risk factor , blood pressure , cholesterol , disease , physical therapy , demography , sociology
Physical activity causes acute physiological and long‐term adaptive responses in the body. It is a protective factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) in adults. It has been assumed that children younger than 8 years of age may be in general active enough and there would be hardly any relationships between physical activity and CHD risk factors in early childhood. One hundred and fifty‐five children (age 4–7 years) participated in this physical activity study during three consecutive years. Physical activity was examined twice a year with a special‐purpose physical activity diary. CHD risk factors were measured during annual health care visits in the S pecific T urku Coronary R isk‐Factor I ntervention P roject (STRIP). We found that physical activity was related to CHD risk factors in early childhood. Among the girls, low‐activity playing was related to a higher BMI. At the mean age of 6 years, high‐activity playing was negatively related to serum total cholesterol ( r =−0.32 * ) and positively to the high‐density lipoprotein (HDL)/total cholesterol ratio ( r =0.37 ** ). The negative relationship between high‐activity playing and triglycerides was highest ( r =−0.32 * ) at the mean age of six. Among 4‐year‐old boys, playing outdoors correlated positively with serum HDL cholesterol concentration ( r =0.29 * ) and the HDL/total ratio ( r =0.35 ** ). At the age of 5 years, physically active playing correlated positively with systolic blood pressure ( r =0.25 * ). Playing outdoors and high‐activity playing already have important health‐maintaining effects in 4–7‐year‐old children. These positive effects differ between genders. ( * P<0.05 ** P<0.01)