Exercise guidelines for children should be boosted 50 percent: study

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2006

PARIS (AFP) — International guidelines on physical exercise for young children need to be boosted by half to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in later life, a study says.

The current recommendations are that young people should take part in physical activity of at least moderate intensity for one hour a day, defined as the equivalent of walking at a speed of around four kilometers (2.5 miles) per hour.

But the new research, published in next Saturday's issue of The Lancet, says that this advice is flawed as it was based on children recalling how much exercise they do -- as opposed to how much exercise they actually do -- and on a narrow view of the risk of heart disease.

Doctors led by Lars Bo Anderson of the Norwegian School of Sports Science...