My gym teacher may have been ahead of her time when she ordered quarreling students to “walk off” their anger. According to a new study, exercise appears to reduce anger in overweight but otherwise healthy children.
I always thought it was a bit hokey when my high school P.E. teacher would get between my feuding classmates, and instead of lecturing them about their behavior, she had them run laps around the track. Apparently she knew what she was doing.
In a study conducted by the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine, exercise was shown to have a “significant impact on anger expression in children.” The research looked at 208 typically sedentary 7- to 11-year-olds who participated in a 10-15 week after school aerobic exercise program or maintained their usual inactive routine. Prior to and following the study the child participants were given a test on how they expressed their anger (e.g. frequency of hitting, slamming doors, etc.).
At the end of the 15-week period, researchers found that the children who participated in regular exercise were better able to manage their aggressive behavior. Researchers say the findings fit with existing evidence that shows that exercise reduces depression and anxiety in children and with what’s considered “common knowledge,” that exercise helps adults manage anger.
Scientists at the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine say their research gives parents and other caregivers another reason to get and keep children moving. The authors of the study also note that high levels of anger and hostility have been associated with delinquency in children, cardiovascular disease in adults and metabolic syndrome – which can lead to heart attack, stroke and diabetes – in adolescents. By encouraging children to exercise on a regular basis, scientists say these types of negative conditions could be drastically reduced.
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