Children are not only more energetic than adults, they also have a higher recovery rate when compared to even professional athletes, let alone fully functioning adults. Tiring out children, hoping that they fall asleep is not really a great strategy after all.
Children were pitted against adults in a series of tests that involved a lot of cardio exercises to see how their bodies responded. The test subjects were divided into three groups — 12 boys between the age 8 and 12 who were 'out of shape', 13 national-level athletes, and 12 unfit adults. Each group was given cycling tests to find out how fast they recovered from exercising. Cycling tests were carried out after which each person's oxygen levels, heart rate, and acidosis and lactate levels were recorded.
Out-of-shape children outperformed out-of-shape adults. Researchers from the Université Clermont Auvergne, France who carried out the study say that they were not really surprised by these results. Children have and make use of their "aerobic metabolism" something that begins to decrease as they enter adulthood, notes a report by the TechTimes.
"Children also recovered very quickly, even faster than the well-trained adult endurance athletes, as demonstrated by their faster heart rate recovery and ability to better remove lactate, a metabolic byproduct contributing to muscle fatigue," Sébastien Ratel, associate professor in Exercise Physiology.
The intention behind the study, notes the report, was for researchers to find ways to incorporate healthier lifestyles into adults' lives because they face a higher risk of contracting certain types of diseases as they get older. The researchers also believe that there is a rising number of diseases that can be directly attributed to physical inactivity.
The research also showed that aerobic metabolism that kids have and is slowly lost when they get older is also around the same time that people normally get diseases like diabetes. Ratel said these findings could help children continue to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle as they get older.
However, not all diseases can be linked to physical inactivity, notes the report. A lot of them could be because of hereditary and nutritional reasons as well. So, eating healthy and staying in shape through exercise should be the focus for adults.
