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REVIEW article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1412389

Can physical activity counteract the negative effects of sedentary behavior on the physical and mental health of children and adolescents? A narrative review

Provisionally accepted
Kun Wang Kun Wang 1Yan Li Yan Li 2恒旭 刘 恒旭 刘 1Ran T. Zhang Ran T. Zhang 1Jiong Luo Jiong Luo 1*
  • 1 Southwest University, Chongqing, China
  • 2 Chongqing Industry Polytechnic College, Chongqing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: The increase in sedentary behavior (SB) in children and adolescents is one of the major threats to global public health, and the relationship between physical activity (PA) and SB has always been a key topic. Methods: The literature search was conducted through PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, and Scopus, and 121 pieces of literature were included in this study after screening and evaluation. Results: 1) SB caused by screen time such as mobile phones and TVs has varying degrees of negative impact on obesity, cardiovascular metabolism, skeletal muscle development, and cognitive, and psychological disorders in children and adolescents. 2) Regular physical activity could effectively prevent, offset, or improve the harm of SB to the physical and mental health of children and adolescents, mainly by reducing the incidence of obesity, and cardiovascular and metabolic risks, promoting skeletal muscle development, and improving cognitive function and mental health. 3) The mechanism of physical activity to prevent or ameliorate the harm of SB was relatively complex, mainly involving the inhibition or activation of neurobiomolecules, the improvement of blood and cell metabolic factors, and the enhancement of brain functional connectivity. Conclusions: Children and adolescents should avoid excessive SB, and through a variety of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) to replace or intermittent SB, which could effectively prevent or improve the harm of SB to physical and mental health.

    Keywords: Children and adolescents, sedentary behavior, physical activity, physical and mental health, Physiological mechanisms

    Received: 04 Apr 2024; Accepted: 19 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Li, 刘, Zhang and Luo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jiong Luo, Southwest University, Chongqing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.