Extreme Heat Makes It Hard for Kids To Be Active. But Exercise Is Crucial In a Warming World

Getting kids to be active in a modern world is a tough sell. It can be hard to compete with indoor comforts like video games, television, and air conditioning. Sweltering weather is another formidable barrier to kids getting enough physical activity, finds a new scientific review published in the journal Temperature that analyzed more than 150 studies. Children today are about 30% less aerobically fit than their parents were at their same age, leaving them less prepared to acclimate to a hotter, more extreme climate as they age, the study concluded. “The outside world is becoming more of an extreme environment for humans all over the world,” including children, says study author Shawnda Morrison, a cardiovascular and exercise physiologist, and assistant professor at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. She is also the founder of Active Healthy Kids Slovenia, which conducts research and advocates for children’s physical activity. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Over time, climate change has made extreme weather like heat waves more common. Air quality is also worsening—not just from the pollution caused from burning fossil fuels, but also from climate-change-driven pollen levels and wildfires, the smoke from which can sting the eyes and penetrate deep into people’s lungs. A warming world is also expected to increase the spread of infectious diseases as animals that spread pathogens alter and expand their territory. All of that cli...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Exercise & Fitness healthscienceclimate Source Type: news