Exercise May Provide Protection for Childhood Psychiatric Conditions

THURSDAY, May 15, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Physical activity (PA) and participation in organized sports may offer protective effects against childhood psychiatric conditions, according to a study published online May 13 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Oskar Lundgren, M.D., from Linköping University in Sweden, and colleagues examined associations between parent-reported PA, time spent outdoors, and participation in organized sports with later incidence of psychiatric conditions in childhood in a birth cohort of 17,055 children followed up to age 18 years.

The researchers found that between 5 and 11 years of age, PA decreased from 4.2 to 2.5 hours per day. Among all participants, there was a negative association for PA at age 11 with incidence of any psychiatric conditions until 18 years (hazard ratio, 0.88). A trend for reducing depression among girls and boys was seen in association with PA at 11 years, and this offered protection against anxiety and addiction for boys (hazard ratios, 0.61 and 0.65, respectively), but not girls. No protective associations were seen for time outdoors, but significant protective effects were seen for participation in organized sports on anxiety and addiction for boys and girls, and on depression for boys.

“This study showed that PA, and in particular, participation in organized sports, may provide sex-specific protective effects against future incidence of several childhood psychiatric diseases,” the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text