Whether you want to live to be 100 years or 50, you can now get closer to the dream of having wholesome years. Scientists carried out a research to help you reach your goal, and the answer: exercise. A team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside carried out experiments and found out that exercising early in life yields results in the adult years. The experiments done on mice in the lab where evaluating the effects of early exercise on adult physical activity, body mass, food consumption and circulating leptin levels.

The research discovered that early-age exercise in mice has positive effects on adult levels of voluntary exercise in addition to reducing body mass — results that may have relevance for the public policy debates concerning the importance of physical education for children.

According to the World Health Organisation, childhood overweight and obesity have increased dramatically since 1990. There is a need for effective interventions starting as early as infancy to reverse anticipated trends. A study done by WHO in 2010 noted that, 43 million children (35 million in developing countries) were estimated to be overweight and obese; 92 million were at risk of overweight. The worldwide prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity increased from 4.2% (95% CI: 3.2%, 5.2%) in 1990 to 6.7% (95% CI: 5.6%, 7.7%) in 2010.

Obesity in South Africa has been called the biggest challenge since HIV by The Observer. It continues to state that obesity is on the rise in poorer nations even among children; more than a quarter of girls and almost one in five boys in South Africa is overweight.

Children playing soccer

NHS UK notes that obesity is generally caused by eating too much and moving too little. “If you consume high amounts of energy from your diet, particularly from fat and sugars, but do not burn off the energy through exercise and physical activity, much of the surplus energy is then stored by the body as fat.” Theodore Garland, a professor of biology, who led the research project said “These results may have implications for the importance of regular physical education in elementary and middle schools, if kids exercise regularly through the school years, then they may be more likely to exercise as adults, which could have far-reaching positive effects on human health and well-being.”

The research was done by Theodore Garland in partnership with Wendy Acosta, Thomas H. Meek, Heidi Schutz, Elizabeth M. Dlugosz and Kim T. Vu using a grant from the National Science Foundation.  “Although the positive effect of early-life exercise lasted for only one week, it is important to note that one week in the life of a mouse is equivalent to about nine months for humans,” Garland said. “Our results suggest that any positive effects of early-life exercise on adult exercise propensity will require reinforcement and maintenance if they are to be long-lasting.”

Exercise is always good for the body and emotional wellbeing of a person; now we have science to prove it. If you did not exercise early in life, you can do so now and take the whole family with you on the ride. It is never too late to start something worthwhile.