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Research presented at the ESC Congress 2023 suggests that prolonged periods of inactivity during childhood may contribute to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes in later life. The study reveals that even individuals with normal weights and blood pressure are susceptible to cardiac damage if they accumulate sedentary hours from childhood to young adulthood.
Dr. Andrew Agbaje from the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio emphasized, “All those hours of screen time in young people add up to a heavier heart, which we know from studies in adults raises the likelihood of heart attack and stroke. Children and teenagers need to move more to protect their long-term health.”
The study presented at the ESC Congress 2023 marked the inaugural attempt to investigate the relationship between sedentary behavior in young individuals, as tracked by smartwatches, and the subsequent occurrence of heart disease.
Conducted as a component of the Children of the 1990s project, one of the largest cohorts with lifestyle evaluations spanning from birth and commencing in 1990/1991, the research was uniquely positioned. Children aged 11 were equipped with smartwatches integrated with activity trackers, which they wore for seven consecutive days. This process was repeated at ages 15 and 24, facilitating the observation of activity patterns across these critical stages of development.
Between the ages of 11 and 24, each additional minute spent in a sedentary state was found to be associated with a 0.004 g/m2.7 increase in the weight of the left ventricle of the heart between ages 17 and 24. This equates to a daily elevation of 0.7 g/m2.7, or a 3-gram increase in left ventricular mass between the echocardiogram measurements when adjusted for the average height gain, multiplied by the extra 169 minutes of inactivity.
Interestingly, a similar increase in left ventricular mass (1 g/m2.7) over a span of seven years was correlated with a twofold elevated risk of heart disease, stroke, and mortality in adults, as per a previous study’s findings.
Dr. Agbaje highlighted, “Children were sedentary for more than six hours a day and this increased by nearly three hours a day by the time they reached young adulthood. Our study indicates that the accumulation of inactive time is related to heart damage regardless of body weight and blood pressure. Parents should encourage children and teenagers to move more by taking them out for a walk and limiting time spent on social media and video games. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl. But by all means, keep moving.’”
Sourc ANI
