ORLANDO, FLA. — It's never too early to make lifestyle changes aimed at reducing cardiovascular risk, findings from a new German study show.
A group of German preschoolers had significantly improved cardiovascular risk profiles as well as “tremendously” enhanced motor development, in response to a structured exercise program, Kerstin S. Ketelhut, M.D., reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology.
Given the worsening epidemics of obesity and metabolic syndrome among people of all ages in industrialized countries and the worrisome implications for future cardiovascular disease rates, it's high time to focus more attention on the merits of regular exercise in nursery and elementary schools as a safe, effective, and low-cost intervention for primary cardiovascular prevention, argued Dr. Ketelhut of the University of Potsdam (Germany).
She reported on a 2-year controlled study of the effects of introducing a regular exercise program to 160 youngsters when they were 3 years old and attending any one of 17 Berlin-area nursery schools; 105 classmates served as controls.
The program involved three 45-minute structured workout sessions per week. Study end points were changes in blood pressure, resting heart rate, body mass index, and performance on standardized motor tests involving running, jumping, balance, and coordination.
At 2 years, mean diastolic blood pressure in the exercise-intervention group was 65.7 mm Hg, significantly lower than the 68.1 mm Hg in controls. Systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and body mass index didn't differ significantly between the two groups. But the exercise-intervention group scored markedly better than controls in all four domains of the standardized motor testing.