Additional school exercise is beneficial for children of lower socioeconomic, educational backgrounds

Machalica K. P3979.

European Society of Cardiology Congress 2010

Results of a year-long study demonstrate that increased daily physical activity at school helped to improve children’s fitness levels and body composition, particularly those from lower socioeconomic and educational backgrounds.

Researchers from the Heart Center at University of Leipzig, Germany, examined the effect of additional participation in school exercise on children from different backgrounds.

“We wanted to see if increasing physical activity from two sessions to five sessions a week would have an impact on children’s cardiopulmonary fitness, BMI, cardiovascular risk and coordination skills,” researcher Katharina Machalica, MD, said in a press release.

The prospective, randomized study included 256 students (mean age, 11 years) from two schools in Brandis, Germany. The first school was regarded as having a higher socioeducational status, with students typically going on to college (n=163). The second school was classified as having a lower socioeducational status, with students typically opting out of further education (n=93).

The researchers randomly assigned students to an intervention group with at least 45 minutes of daily school exercise lessons or a control group with twice-weekly regular school sports. Various measurements, including weight, height, BMI, free fat mass and body fat mass, were taken at baseline and again 1 year later. Tests were also performed on coordination and cardiopulmonary fitness.

At baseline, children from lower socioeducational schools generally had a higher BMI, less free fat mass and less developed coordination skills compared with students at higher socioeducational schools.

After 1 year of exercise intervention, the researchers observed a significant decrease in the BMI of all children. Free fat mass was significantly increased more so in children from the lower socioeducational status high school vs. children from the higher socioeducational status high school.

Furthermore, lower socioeducational status students significantly improved their coordination skills and cardiopulmonary fitness by a relatively higher rate compared with higher socioeducational status students, according to the results.

This study appears to show that school-based exercise interventions may have significant benefits for children of various backgrounds, including those who are typically at risk for developing CV diseases, the researchers concluded.

[The researchers were] able to show that the children from the poorer schools were less active and had higher BMI. [Machalica’s] elegant conclusion was to put more money and exercise programs into certain schools because these children will derive a marked benefit.

– Fausto Pinto, MD, PhD

Outgoing Chairman,
European Society of Cardiology Congress Program Committee