A study of 5,500 adolescents with an average age of 12 has found that going for a walk more often could help children develop better emotional regulation. The research identified “some of the clearest evidence yet” on the link between regular movement and the developing brain.
Youngsters who took under 5,000 steps a day had the most symptoms of poorer mental health, while those averaging around 8,000 had fewer and those hitting 12,000 or more had the fewest of all. Adolescents with the highest step counts also showed slightly thicker brain tissue in two areas involved in movement and regulating emotion, researchers found.
Benefits of Every Extra Walk
Experts said that every extra walk to school or trip to the shops can boost teenage mental health. Co-author Dr Amanda Paluch, associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said: “Adolescence is a key period for brain development and mental health, so it's encouraging to see that physical activity's benefits extend to both. It is not an all-or-nothing situation.
“Adolescents don't need to be elite athletes to benefit, 1,000 to 2,000 higher daily step increments, from any starting point, was associated with better brain structure and mental health outcomes. That beneficial association keeps building from there.”
How the Study Was Conducted
Researchers gave adolescents Fitbit devices to wear for three weeks. A year later, researchers checked in on their mental health, using the child behaviour checklist which is a widely used questionnaire completed by young people and their parents to measure symptoms such as anxiety, low mood and behavioural problems.
The results showed that the more youngsters walked, the fewer mental health problems they had a year later. There was no link found between step count and how well they did at school.
Clear Evidence of Benefits
Author Dr Divyangana Rakesh, from King's College London, said: “This study gives us some of the clearest evidence yet that even an everyday, low-cost, accessible measure of physical activity like daily step count is tied to how adolescent brains and mental health develop.”
“What's striking is that we don't see this benefit levelling off in the observed range, even among the most active young people in our sample.”
Dr Amanda Paluch added: “The goal is finding realistic, sustainable ways to move more, through everyday opportunities like walking to school, active play and activities kids actually enjoy, so these benefits are accessible wherever an adolescent is starting from.”
