Parents spend a lot of time, money, and energy trying to set their children up for success. Tutors, private school, test prep, sports camps, computer programs, and more all drive up the cost of parenting. Making sure they get to all their daily and weekly activities adds up to a lot of time even before we get to healthy eating. This study suggests we should focus some attention on a particular factor, physical activity leading to cardiovascular fitness.
Yes, I already mentioned sports activities, but not everyone buys into this and not every child is built for competitive sports. Just because your child is not the fastest, the strongest, the tallest, or the most coordinated, does not mean you should ignore the physical fitness side of their development. In the study, adolescents who had a lower measure of cardiovascular fitness were found to have decreased work productivity and higher work absences as adults. Neither muscle fitness nor high body mass appeared to impact on adult work capacity.
As a society, lets work on getting out with our kids to improve their cardio and our cardio. Brisk walks, active games, bike riding, and any thing that we can do on a regular basis can help them live out more productive lives decades later. Oh yeah, doing those activities not only helps our cardio health, but doing them together builds family relationships that also pay off for decades.
Let’s help our children live healthier, more abundant lives by spending some active time with them even if they don’t ever play on the high school sports team. Cardiovascular health is important for everyone, not just the jocks.
Focus article:
Perttu T. T. Laakso, Francisco B. Ortega, Pertti Huotari, Asko J. Tolvanen, Urho M. Kujala, Timo T. Jaakkola. Adolescent Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Future Work Ability. JAMA Network Open, 2024; 7 (3): e243861 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.3861
Thanks to Science Daily:
University of Jyväskylä – Jyväskylän yliopisto. “Low cardiorespiratory fitness in youth is associated with decreased work ability throughout adulthood.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 8 April 2024. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240408130641.htm>.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
