A new study from Norway has found that children who play sports are less likely to develop symptoms of depression.
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, executed on the study, which is reportedly the first one to study the correlation in children.
Dr. Tonje Zahl, the study’s author said, “Being active, getting sweaty, and roughhousing offer more than just physical health benefits. They also protect against depression,”
The researchers studied 800 children between the ages of six and ten over a four-year period. As part of the study, they interviewed the parents to assess the children’s emotional health throughout these years. The kids were asked to wear accelerometers for 24 hours a day for seven consecutive days, and only remove them when bathing.
Only those participants with at least three days of recordings and 480 minutes of activity per day were included in the final study. They found that those children who had the highest levels of physical activity were less likely to develop signs of depression when they were reassessed after two years.
