Everyone knows that being active is good for your health. But now researchers at NTNU in Trondheim have found that this affects girls and boys differently. They have specifically investigated the connection between body fat and being physically active. The researchers did not measure weight and height, but the composition of the body. They asked the following questions: Does increased physical activity lead to a lower percentage of body fat over time? Or is it perhaps the other way around, that those who gain more body fat over time become less physically active? And the answers varied according to gender. It was Gemini.no that first mentioned this case. Data from 1000 children To find answers, the researchers used data from the project Tidlig trygg in Trondheim. Here they have followed about 1000 children since they were four years old. The participants have now turned 18 years old. The researchers examined the children every other year from the age of 6 until they were 14. – For girls, we found no connection between physical activity and the amount of body fat. Increased physical activity did not lead to less body fat in the girls, and body fat had no effect on changes in physical activity. This is what former research fellow and first author of the new study, Tonje Zahl-Thanem, tells Gemini. But for boys, it should be different. Here, the amount of body fat affects physical activity. Increased body fat in boys led to less physical activity two years later, both when they were 8, 10, and 12 years old, the researcher further explains. However, they do not know exactly why this is so. Why a difference? What they have found is that girls are just as active, regardless of their weight. But boys with a lot of body fat sit more still. The study has not investigated why this is the case, but the researchers point out that large bodies are heavier to train with. This may explain why boys who gain body fat become less active over time. But why does this not apply to the girls? Scientists can only speculate. – Boys are generally more physically active than girls, they therefore have more to go on when it comes to reducing activity, says Silje Steinsbekk to news.no. She is a professor and specialist in clinical child and adolescent psychology. Silje Steinsbekk is a professor and specialist in clinical child and adolescent psychology. She is also deputy head of the study Early Safe in Trondheim. Photo: Jørgen Leangen / news Became more sedentary – Boys ‘physical activity is probably even more competitive than girls’, and increased body fat makes it more difficult to succeed, says Professor Lars Wichstrøm at NTNU. The researchers also examined the link between inactivity and body fat. These results showed that boys who had an increase in weight became more sedentary over time. But for the girls, there was no connection here either. In sum, there is a connection between physical activity, sedentary lifestyle and fat percentage in boys, but not in girls, Professor Steinsbekk states. – The results show that in girls there is no connection between physical activity and body fat. This suggests that for girls at this age, increasing physical activity does not help if the goal is to prevent unwanted weight gain. The same goes for the boys, but only until they are teenagers. To know how to prevent overweight and obesity, there is a need to understand the connection between physical activity, sitting still and body fat, the researchers believe. Photo: Ørn E. Borgen / NTB The goal is to promote physical activity Silje Steinsbekk says the results from this study can contribute to both prevention and health promotion. To prevent overweight and obesity, you need knowledge about how physical activity and weight are related. Furthermore, she says that previous studies, which have examined the same, have divergent results. Some people find that physical activity prevents unwanted weight gain, others do not. – Our most important contribution is that with repeated measurements we examine the entire period from the children are 8-14 years old. We use an objective measure of physical activity and sitting still, ie an accelerometer (an advanced pedometer). In addition, we use a statistical method that allows us to say with greater probability that one leads to the other, not just that they are connected.
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Physical activity affects boys and girls differently, shows a new study from NTNU – news Trøndelag
