Girls who make lot of friends shown to be more physically active

For each additional friend a child has, she spends an extra 10 minutes being physically active at the weekend, research funded by World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the National Prevention Research Initiative (NPRI) found.

An extra friend was also associated with almost four extra minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity after school, research into the health of boys and girls in the years between primary and secondary school showed.

But the link between friend numbers and exercise was only noticed in girls, suggesting stronger friendship associations for girls than boys, scientists said.

Dr Russell Jago, of the University of Bristol’s Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences, said: “The research shows that children are receptive to being encouraged to undertake more physical activity. We want to encourage young people to be active with their friends and support each other.

“This information can be used to design strategies to improve activity levels among children at a crucial stage in their development.”

“The higher levels of physical activity associated with girls having more friends and having friends who support physical activity suggests promoting activity with friends could be helpful.”

Researchers studied data from Year 6 pupils aged 10 to 11 from 23 primary schools in Bristol. The children were reassessed when they went to one of eight secondary schools in the city. Physical activity was measured with accelerometers, devices that measure movement, worn over seven days and friends were assessed through questionnaires.

The findings, published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise by the American College of Sports Medicine, concluded: “Strategies to foster friend support for physical activity may be important for helping girls be active.”

While at primary school, boys engaged in approximately 26 minutes of medium or vigorous activity after school, with girls engaging in 21 minutes – a significant proportion of children’s recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day. At the weekend, boys and girls engaged in 45 minutes and 36 minutes respectively.

Dr Rachel Thompson, Deputy Head of Science at WCRF, said: “Physical activity is an important factor in reducing cancer risk in later life and it is vital that being physically active is a habit we develop early.