Study links preteen physical activity with better mental health later

At age 11, daily physical activity was associated with a 12 percent lower risk of a psychiatric diagnosis at age 18 for every hour of activity recorded, according to research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The study examined data from over 16,000 children born between 1997 and 1999 in Sweden whose families recorded their daily physical activity information at ages 5, 8 and 11.

Physical activity decreased the risk of anxiety by almost 40 percent for boys at both 5 and 11, the study found. The same held true for depression and boys: Physical activity was associated with a 19 percent reduction in depression among boys at age 5 and 23 percent at age 8.

At age 11, physical activity was associated with a decreased risk for depression for both boys and girls. Participation in organized sports at age 11 correlated with a reduced risk of mental health diagnoses - 12 percent lower for girls and 23 percent for boys, the researchers wrote.

In a trend the researchers called “problematic,” the children’s daily physical activity levels declined between ages 5 and 11 from just over four hours to 2½ hours per day.

The researchers wrote that ages 10 to 12 might be a critical period for the development of psychological resilience. Physical activity and participation in organized sports, they stressed, might provide a protective effect against future incidence of several childhood psychiatric diseases.