Regular physical exercise can reduce the risk of depression in young people and adolescents. This is confirmed by research published in “JAMA Pediatrics” which has carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of 21 studies with 2,400 participants. The greatest decreases in these symptoms were recorded in people older than 13 years.
Depression is the second most prevalent mental disorder among children and adolescents, with an estimated prevalence rate of 6.2% globally.
It is associated with difficulties with social relationships, mental problems and an increased risk of suicide. In addition, it is a strong predictor of future mental disorders, since it has been shown that up to 67% of young people with depressive symptoms are at risk of developing depression as adults.
Researchers questioned whether physical activity could alleviate depressive symptoms in children and adolescents.
And their results suggest that physical activity programs can alleviate the symptoms of depression in children and adolescents, especially in people under 13 years of age or older and in those diagnosed with mental illness and/or depression.
In statements to the Science Media Center, celso arango, head of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service and director of the Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health of the Gregorio Marañón General University Hospital, assures that “it is a meta-analysis, so the limitations are those of the studies used for it. Although it is methodologically sound, the studies on which it is based are small. In addition, it is very difficult to blind these studies, so they have a significant bias. Even so, the results coincide with the usual practice and previous studies that can be extended to adults.
The results coincide with the usual practice and previous studies that can be extended to adults.
The Spanish expert adds that moderate physical exercise It is a protective factor for the development of mental disorders such as anxiety and depression.n, and once you have these disorders, accelerate improvement when done in the form combined with different treatments indicated by scientific evidence. «One factor to take into account that introduces a bias is that people with depression who do sports have a higher degree of motivationso it is not possible to infer direct causality between sport and improvement in depression».
The authors of the paper maintain that future studies should investigate the influence of physical activity parameters such as frequency, duration, and supervision of sessions to determine the optimal dose and mode of administration of the intervention for the treatment of depressive symptoms.
Even so, adds Arango, and taking into account that depression is a disease of the whole body, “physical exercise is an important aid that we clinicians use in our regular practice with patients.”