(Press-News.org) Researchers have discovered that participation in physical activity of at least moderate intensity is more critical to childhood cardiometabolic health than overall sedentary time. However, when evaluating the risk of cardiovascular disease, screen time appears to be worse than overall sedentary time.
As members of TEAM PRODIGY, an inter-university research team that includes researchers from the University of Ottawa, University of Montreal, McGill University, and Laval University, researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute set out to examine how time spent doing moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and time spent in sedentary behaviour affects the risk of cardiovascular disease in children. The complete article will be published in the latest issue of Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism.
“Although results in this study suggest that in children, time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity appears more important than time spent in sedentary activities, with regard to cardiometabolic health, both increasing children’s participation in physical activity AND reducing their screen-related sedentary time are important public health targets to achieve,” said first author, Dr. Jean-Philippe Chaput, who is a researcher at the CHEO Research Institute and a cross-appointed professor at the University of Ottawa.
This cross-sectional study involved over 500 participants between the ages of 8 and 10. The measured outcomes included waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and glucose concentrations.
Higher levels of MVPA were associated with lower waist circumference, fasting triglycerides and diastolic blood pressure, and higher HDL cholesterol, irrespective of sedentary time. In contrast, sedentary time was positively associated with diastolic blood pressure, but after adjustment for MVPA, the association was no longer statistically significant. Self-reported screen time was positively associated with waist circumference and negatively associated with HDL cholesterol independent of MVPA.
“Today we’re offering empirical evidence that to reduce cardiovascular disease risk in children, being physically active throughout the day is probably more important than limiting sitting time,” continued Dr. Chaput.
###
This study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and Fonds de le Recherche en Santé du Québec.
The article is available open access in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism at DOI: 10.1139/apnm-2012-0382
Should kids sit less or move more? CHEO Research answers
2013-04-23
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Scientists provide 'new spin' on emerging quantum technologies
2013-04-23
An international team of scientists has shed new light on a fundamental area of physics which could have important implications for future electronic devices and the transfer of information at the quantum level.
The electrical currents currently used to power electronic devices are generated by a flow of charges. However, emerging quantum technologies such as spin-electronics, make use of both charge and another intrinsic property of electrons – their spin – to transfer and process signals and information.
The experimental and theoretical work, carried out by researchers ...
Israeli scientists discover why soft corals have unique pulsating motion
2013-04-23
Jerusalem, April 23, 2013 -- Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have discovered why Heteroxenia corals pulsate. Their work, which resolves an old scientific mystery, appears in the current issue of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the US).
One of the most fascinating and spectacular sights in the coral reef of Eilat is the perpetual motion of the tentacles of a coral called Heteroxenia (Heteroxenia fuscescens). Heteroxenia is a soft coral from the family Xeniidae, which looks like ...
Flexible partnership allows lichens to occur in different habitats
2013-04-23
Lichens are symbiotic organisms consisting of a fungal partner and one or several algal partners. The association is so close that scientists until 1867 were not aware that lichens actually consist of two different partners. After the Swiss botanist Simon Schwendener discovered the dual nature of lichens, lichenologists were focusing on the fungal partner when studying lichens, since it was often believed that only few algae are involved in the symbiosis.
Molecular studies have shown that it was a mistake to neglect the algal partner for a long time. The diversity of ...
'Love handles' melt away at the push of a button
2013-04-23
For a long time, scientists have dreamt of converting undesirable white fat cells into brown fat cells and thus simply have excess pounds melt away. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now gotten a step closer to this goal: They decoded a "toggle switch" in mice which can significantly stimulate fat burning. The results are now being presented in the scientifc journal "Nature Communications".
Many people not only in industrialized nations struggle with excess weight - but all fat is not alike. "Love handles" in particular contain troublesome white fat cells which ...
Study finds that residential lawns efflux more carbon dioxide than corn fields
2013-04-23
More carbon dioxide is released from residential lawns than corn fields according to a new study. And much of the difference can likely be attributed to soil temperature. The data, from researchers at Elizabethtown College, suggest that urban heat islands may be working at smaller scales than previously thought.
These findings provide a better understanding of the changes that occur when agricultural lands undergo development and urbanization to support growing urban populations.
David Bowne, assistant professor of biology, led the study to look at the amount of carbon ...
Whether human or hyena, there's safety in numbers
2013-04-23
Humans, when alone, see threats as closer than they actually are. But mix in people from a close group, and that misperception disappears.
In other words, there's safety in numbers, according to a new study by two Michigan State University scholars. Their research provides the first evidence that people's visual biases change when surrounded by members of their own group.
"Having one's group or posse around actually changes the perceived seriousness of the threat," said Joseph Cesario, lead author on the study and assistant professor of psychology. "In that situation, ...
Study: Source of organic matter affects Bay water quality
2013-04-23
Each time it rains, runoff carries an earthy tea steeped from leaf litter, crop residue, soil, and other organic materials into the storm drains and streams that feed Chesapeake Bay.
A new study led by researchers at William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science reveals that land use in the watersheds from which this "dissolved organic matter" originates has important implications for Bay water quality, with the organic carbon in runoff from urbanized or heavily farmed landscapes more likely to persist as it is carried downstream, thus contributing energy to fuel ...
New technology that improves your brain
2013-04-23
TAMPA, Fla. (April 23, 2013) – Improving brain function is one of the topics explored in the latest issue of Technology and Innovation – Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors® (https://www.cognizantcommunication.com/component/content/article/636). The special issue, which also contains studies on medical technology and health care delivery, contains two articles on brain health: one on preventing and curing mental illness and one on improving the brain through training.
The BRAINnet Foundation uses technology to prevent and cure mental illnesses
The non-profit ...
Insights into deadly coral bleaching could help preserve reefs
2013-04-23
Coral reefs are stressed the world over and could be in mortal danger because of climate change. But why do some corals die and others not, even when exposed to the same environmental conditions?
An interdisciplinary research team from Northwestern University and The Field Museum of Natural History has a surprising answer: The corals themselves play a role in their susceptibility to deadly coral bleaching due to the light-scattering properties of their skeletons. No one else has shown this before.
Using optical technology designed for early cancer detection, the researchers ...
Shoulder injuries in baseball pitchers could be prevented with 3-D motion detection system
2013-04-23
MAYWOOD, Ill. -- A new 3-D motion detection system could help identify baseball pitchers who are at risk for shoulder injuries, according to a new study.
The system can be used on the field, and requires only a laptop computer. Other systems that evaluate pitchers' throwing motions require cameras and other equipment and generally are confined to indoor use.
Loyola University Medical Center sports medicine surgeon Pietro Tonino, MD, is a co-author of the study, published in the journal Musculoskeletal Surgery.
In a well-rested pitcher, the humerus (upper arm bone) ...