Fat-Distribution and the Body: Exercise is Everything for Growing Kids

Numbers don't mean everything. More specifically, a child with normal weight who doesn't exercise regularly can still be at risk for weight-related health issues later in life, particularly due to poor fat-distribution, according to a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Illinois.

"The FITKids study demonstrates the extent to which physical activity can improve body composition, and that's important because it matters to your health where fat is stored. But the study is also interesting for what happened in the control group to the kids who didn't exercise," said Naiman Khan, a postdoctoral researcher in the U of I's Division of Nutritional Sciences, via a press release.

Researchers found that the end of nine-month program marked a stark contrast between the exercisers and non-exercises.

"FITKids had improved cardiovascular fitness, less overall body fat, and carried less fat around their abdomens, a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. The opposite was true for the control group who maintained their regular after-school routine."

FITKids developer Charles Hillman and U of I professor of kinesiology who looked at the effects of physical activity on the brain and cognition for the study, examined 220 eight- to nine-year-olds who were assigned to either a nine-month physical activity intervention or a control group. Each intervention involved 70 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity five days a week, followed by baseline and cardiorespiratory fitness, percent fat mass, percent central fat mass and estimated abdominal fat tissue measurements.

The children in the control group saw signs of increase fat mass percentages as well as abdominal fat tissue.

"So the weight of healthy-weight children who don't exercise doesn't just remain stable. Normal-weight kids who don't exercise do gain an excess amount of weight for their age, and if they become overweight, the tendency is to store excess fat in their abdomens. They're going in the wrong direction," Khan noted, via the release.

Researchers believe that parents who promote physical fitness among their children could help prevent the onset of obesity for their children later in life. 

"Your child should engage in moderate to vigorous exercise for about an hour a day. Adults should make sure kids have a space to play and play games in and opportunities to be physically during or after school. If kids are at a healthy weight for their age, we want to make sure they stay that way," Khan said.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Pediatrics.