Exercising with a Best Friend

A new study that will be published in Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise found that 10 and 11 year old boys and girls who are physically active with their best friends engage in higher amounts of physical activity. Higher levels of physical activity were seen when the friends were active outside of school hours. This study indicates that have an active friend can increase daily physical activity time for children.

This is a simple suggestion for children to increase daily physical activity time – play with a friend after school! Set up play dates or encourage buddies who will be good role models for physical play time.

Reference: Better with a buddy: influence of best friends on children’s physical activity by Russell Jago, Kyle MacDonald-Wallis, Janice L Thompson, Angie S Page Rowan Brockman and Kenneth R Fox, Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, Vol 43, No 2, February 2011.