Regular exercise and physical activity can be highly beneficial for your child. According to a new study published in Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, daily exercise can help school children cope better with stress.
Researchers found that participants who exercise more than an hour per day produced less cortisol in the stress task than the children who were less active. Having the right cortisol balance is important and producing too much or too little cortisol can lead to health problems.
"Regularly active children seem to have a reduced physiological stress reaction in general," said lead author Manuel Hanke, from the University of Basel in Switzerland.
How does physical activity help?
"When children regularly run, swim, climb, etc., the brain learns to associate a rise in cortisol with something positive. The body's reaction always has a cognitive component as well: this positive association helps to prevent the concentration of cortisol from rising to too high a level in exam situations as well," said Sebastian Ludyga, from the varsity.
Physical activity can help increase the production of the brain's feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. According to Harvard Health, "regular aerobic exercise will bring remarkable changes to your body, your metabolism, your heart, and your spirits."
Details about the research
Researchers studied 110 children between the age of 10 and 13 who wore a sensor to track their daily movement over the course of a week. The researchers brought the participants into the lab on two separate occasions to complete a stressful task and a non-stressful control task. They tested the children's physical stress reaction via the concentration of cortisol in their saliva. The researchers also examined cognitive reactions to the stress task by recording participants' brainwaves via electroencephalogram (EEG).
Physical activity and stress
"Stress can interfere with thinking. Some of us are familiar with this in its most extreme form - a blackout," Hanke said. The team now aims to determine whether physical activity also has an influence on these cognitive effects of stress.
Along with helping to manage stress, regular physical activity comes with many benefits. So make sure you do not discourage your child from engaging in physical activity as simple as playing outdoors. Being stress free will also help them to better manage their academics. Balance is essential for your child’s overall well being.
