Exercise Will Not Reduce Depression Risk In Children, Study Finds

Recent findings published in JAMA Pediatrics reveal that there is unfortunately, no connection between exercise and preventing symptoms of depression in young children.

For the study, researchers examined 736 participants, all an average of 14 years. Participants were followed up over a three-year-period, and their physical acitivty energy expenditure (PAEE) and moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) measures were examined, which was divided into weekday and weekend activity.

Next, participants were asked to fill out questionnaires that measured their mood symptoms, with interviews three years after baseline.

Findings revealed no link between the levels of physical activity at 14 years of age and depressive outcomes at 17 years of age.

"Our findings do not eliminate the possibility that PA positively affects depressed mood in the general population; rather, we suggest that this effect may be small or nonexistent during the period of adolescence. ... Our findings carry important public policy implications because they help to clarify the effect of PA on depressive symptoms in the general population. Although PA has numerous benefits to physical health in later life, such positive effects may not be expected on depressive outcomes during adolescence," concluded study researcher Umar Toseeb, Ph.D., of the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, in a news release.