Balanced Childhood Diet & Exercise Makes For Calmer Adults - Moms

A new study has shown that childhood diet and exercise play a large part in creating a healthier, and less anxious adult. As parents, we know that children need to eat healthily, and get out and move their bodies. It is vital for their health and development. Mom will work hard to make sure that their child has the best possible, and it turns out that these two factors could play a large part in a child’s mental health when they are older.

According to Science Daily, a study was done on mice that are showing the lasting effects of habits that are started early on. This new research shows that eating a healthy diet in childhood and getting enough exercise can form bigger brains in adulthood and lower levels of anxiety.

The research was completed by the University of California – Riverside. This was the first study that looked at the long-lasting effects of creating healthy habits early on in life. They also wanted to look at both combined, because the researchers found that most studies only look at either eating habits or exercise, rarely do they look at both of them together.

To complete the study, researchers looked at mice. As soon as the mice weaned from their mothers, they were placed on healthy diets and continued those for three weeks.

The mice were also given wheels to exercise on and they completed both of these activities for 8 weeks. Then, researchers did an analysis on their behavior as well as looked at their levels of certain hormones. The mice were split up and placed on different diets to see how the changes affected them.

This study helped researchers see that adults who exercised as a child had an increase in adult muscle as well as brain mass. They also were less prone to anxious behaviors.

What is interesting is that previously, the team had found that eating too much fat and sugar as a child altered their microbiome for life. It didn’t matter if the children grew to eat healthy diets, it was not a change that could be reversed.

This study is just another to prove how important it is for children to eat healthily and get all the exercise they can when they are younger. The researchers did highlight the importance of this right now, while the world is still coping with the pandemic. It may be more important now than it ever has been for children to have healthy habits.

Sources: Science Daily, University of California - Riverside

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Ashley Wehrli (1803 Articles Published)

Ashley Is A Stay At Home Mom To Three Beautiful Children. Having Three Children Under The Age Of 4 Keeps Her Busy. When She Finds Some Spare Time She Enjoys Reading, Writing, Watching Movies And Writing For Moms!