Annual aerobic exercise test helps improve children’s health

Weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar can track individual risk factors, but measurements of cardiopulmonary function show the overall health of the heart, lungs, and blood circulation. Heart Association. It was published in Circulation magazine on Monday.

“Every child will benefit from a (cardiopulmonary fitness) test as part of their body every year, in doing so will identify children who will benefit from lifestyle interventions that help improve their health. “The University of Missouri, a cardiologist at Mercy Hospital, is both in Kansas City.”

Children with low aerobic fitness or unhealthy are at increased risk of developing early heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure in their youth and, as adults, are at increased risk of premature death from heart disease and stroke.

A new scientific statement reviewed a study that linked improved aerobic fitness in children with improved academic performance, clearer thinking, better mental health, and self-worth with satisfaction in life .. According to the report, children’s levels of cardiopulmonary function have declined in the United States and internationally over the last 60 years.

“We need to keep our children moving and engaging in regular physical activity such as any sport they enjoy,” said Rugbya. “The best activity is one that children or teens like and it will last longer. The habits they learn when they are young will directly benefit their health as they grow older. .”

A survey conducted prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic Show found that children spend more time using electronic devices not only for their educational needs, but also for recreation and entertainment. However, the relationship between sedentary time and aerobic exercise in young people is unknown. A recent analysis combining the results of multiple studies found that higher inactivity was associated with reduced levels of cardiorespiratory fitness in children but not in teens.

According to scientific statements, the “Gold Standard” for measuring cardiopulmonary fitness includes special tracking of regular breathing while participants are exhausted on a modified exercise bike called a treadmill or ergometer. It is included.

However, most pediatric clinics do not have the equipment or personnel to do that on a daily basis. Therefore, the report author said the school could provide a solution.

The school conducts a wide range of fitness tests such as the shuttle run, which is an effective index of cardiopulmonary fitness. Students run faster, measured by how many 20-meter laps they finish before a timed beep that diminishes as the test progresses. Many schools measure body mass index, weight, abdominal strength, upper body strength, and flexibility through a series of tests called FitnessGram in all 50 states.

Today, these important pieces of information about children’s health are “not easily accessible because they’re in silos,” Raghuveer said. Alternatively, schools can share the results of their aerobic fitness tests with healthcare providers – in the same way that those same providers routinely share immunization records with schools.

The report also looked at some of the social, economic, and environmental disparities that affect adolescent cardiorespiratory function.

This statement cites a study showing that low-income families tend to have compromised cardiopulmonary function or have unhealthy children. Probably because you don’t have access to a safe place to do exercise, sports or physical activity. In many communities, physical education is not offered at school and opportunities for outdoor breaks are reduced or eliminated.

In addition, many low-income families live in the food desert, making it difficult to find and buy healthy foods, which contribute to obesity in youth and adults.

Raghuveer said the new report “inspires research to find a valid, low-cost alternative to traditional cardiopulmonary exercise tests to assess all children, running in offices where space isn’t needed and limited. We hope to stimulate an improved (cardiopulmonary fitness) test that can be formally trained by an exercise physiologist.

“In the meantime, requiring physical activity in all grades through high school will be a step in the right direction,” she said.

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