Walking, dancing, swimming… Practicing light physical activity could reverse the risks linked to high cholesterol levels, which are caused by a sedentary lifestyle during childhood.
- Over 13 years of follow-up, sedentary time increased from about six to nine hours per day and light physical activity decreased from six to three hours per day.
- Practicing light physical activity for four and a half hours a day led to a reduction in cholesterol of 0.53 mmol/l in children and adolescents.
- Taking long walks, slow dancing or swimming from childhood would be 5 to 8 times more effective than practicing moderate to intense physical activity.
Children and adolescents are increasingly sedentary and spend a lot of time in front of their screens. This can increase cholesterol levels by 67% in adulthood, leading to heart problems (atherosclerosis, heart damage) and even premature death. This was recently revealed by scientists from the University of Exeter (United Kingdom). However, in the same study they showed that high cholesterol caused by childhood sedentary lifestyle could be reversed with light physical activity.
In 13 years, sedentary time increased from six to nine hours per day
To reach this conclusion, the researchers followed 792 children, aged 11, until the age of 24. During the intervention, accelerometer measures of sedentary time, light physical activity, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were collected at ages 11, 15, and 24 years. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and total cholesterol were also measured several times. Youth also had repeated measurements of body fat, muscle mass, fasting blood sugar, insulin and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, smoking status, socioeconomic status and a family history of cardiovascular disease.
The results, published in the journal Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, showed that over 13 years of follow-up, sedentary time increased from about six to nine hours per day. Light physical activity decreased from six to three hours per day, while moderate to vigorous physical activity remained relatively stable, at around 50 minutes per day, from childhood through young adulthood. The average increase in total cholesterol was 0.69 mmol/l.
Doing 4 hours of light physical activity would be effective in combating excess cholesterol
The team found that light physical activity (long walks, household chores, slow dancing, swimming or cycling) for an average of four and a half hours per day from childhood to early adulthood led to increased reduction in cholesterol by 0.53 mmol/l. In the research findings, the authors added that light-intensity physical activity practiced from childhood could be 5 to 8 times more effective than moderate to vigorous physical activity in reversing the negative effect of a sedentary lifestyle on hypercholesterolemia.
“This study highlights the incredible importance of light physical activity for health. (…) So perhaps it is time for the World Health Organization to update its recommendations on physical exercise in children, and that public health experts, pediatricians and family doctors implement high cholesterol prevention programs,” said Dr Andrew Agbaje, lead author of the work, in a statement.
