For children struggling with mental health disorders, movement may be the answer

Parents and other adults begging children to put down the screens and go outside and play may truly be onto something. Days before Mental Health Awareness Month kicked off on May 1, a new study found that physical fitness has many benefits for children and young adults, including improved mental health. The study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics on April 29, analyzed data collected anonymously from Taiwan National Student Fitness Tests compared with data from the National Insurance Research Databases. Researchers tracked students aged 10 to 11, from 2009 to 2019, comparing their physical fitness to their mental health. They also looked closely at certain conditions such as anxiety and depression disorders and ADHD/ADD.  Not only did researchers find that greater physical fitness was associated with decreased mental health disorders, but that certain types of fitness improved specific conditions. For instance, cardio fitness — measured by a 30-second faster half-mile — was associated with lower risks of anxiety, depression, and ADHD in female students while indicating lower risks of anxiety and ADHD in male students. “This study highlights the potential protective role of cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular endurance, and muscular power in preventing the onset of mental disorders,” researchers wrote...