If parents exercise, their children will have better metabolic health, a study has found.
- Per day, the amount of calories an adult needs on average is between 2,400 and 2,600 calories for a man and 1,800 to 2,200 calories for a woman.
- Lack of sleep can slow down and harm a person’s metabolism.
- Metabolites are made when the body breaks down food.
Adults should get at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week, depending on theWorld Health Organization (WHO).
The more parents exercise, the better their children’s metabolism will be
Adopting this habit would be beneficial for the health of athletes, but also for that of their children or their future children. Indeed, according to a study published in the journal Diabetesif both mother and father engage in regular physical activity, their child will have better metabolic health.
As a reminder, metabolism is the set of reactions that keep the body alive. It plays a role in several functions (breathing, heartbeat, body temperature, digestion, etc.) and also impacts mood, aging and weight gain. Everyone has their own metabolism, which depends on different factors such as weight, size, sex or age. To function properly, the metabolism therefore needs a daily calorie intake, the amount of which depends on each person.
All forms of physical activity improve glucose metabolism
“We have long been interested in the role of parental physical activity in improving the metabolic health of offspring”, explains Kristin Stanford, one of the authors. But the scientists went further this time. In their work with mice, they studied metabolites (i.e. organic compounds derived from metabolism) of specific areas and functions in rodent offspring.
Thus, they found that all forms of physical exercise performed by parents improved glucose metabolism throughout their child’s body in adulthood. This function, largely performed by the liver, is essential for supplying energy to the body. The authors also observed that the physical activity practiced by the parents allowed a better functioning of the metabolism in general in the children, regardless of the metabolite studied.
Scientists hope that further research will be conducted to better understand how metabolites are regulated. Ultimately, they hope their work will lead to the development of new therapeutic tools to improve metabolism and, more broadly, overall health.
