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28.12.2022

Fitness helps children & adolescents beat depression

If depressed children and teenagers start exercising in a gym, their depression will not heal in most cases. But nevertheless, frequent workouts will have a positive effect, according to a German meta-analysis of 4 other meta-analyses.

Study
Mirko Wegner, affiliated with the Humboldt University of Berlin, collected 4 previously published meta-analyses in which researchers had collected studies in which depressed children and teenagers aged 5-19 had started exercising. So Wegner did a meta-meta-analysis.

In 'the' average study, subjects went to a gym 3 times a week for 3 months for a fitness program that consisted predominantly of cardio. There they trained for three quarters of an hour. More precise data about the meta-analyses can be seen below.

Click on the table for a larger version.

Results
When Wegner compiled and re-analyzed the results of the meta-analyses, he found a medium-sized positive effect of exercise on depression.

In every day language: the subjects felt less miserable when they started exercising, but according to the analysis, exercise was also not able to cure depression.

Conclusion
"Research reveals small to medium but consistently positive effects of physical exercise on depressive symptoms in clinical and nonclinical samples as well as no negative side effects for children and adolescents", write the researchers.

"Especially with this last part in mind, physical exercise should be seen as a promising future supplementary intervention against mental health problems in this age group."

Source:
Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2022 Feb 28;16(1):16.

More:
Why moderate continuous activity is a better antidepressant than HIT 03.08.2022
Depression disappears faster due to less than an hour of strength training or cardio per week 16.11.2019
Intensive weight training helps fight depression 05.06.2013

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