Resistance training could help treat and prevent child obesity

A new review has found that strength-based exercises, such as squats, lunges, and push-ups, could be an effective way to reduce obesity in children.

Carried out by researchers at the Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee, the new research, published in the journal Sports Medicine - Open, is the most extensive review so far on the effect of resistance training on the body weight of children, looking at 18 studies across eight countries including the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Brazil, Tunisia, Austria and Japan.

The studies looked at the effect of resistance training on 554 children aged eight to 18 years who were either a healthy weight or overweight/obese, with an additional 599 participants acting as controls.

The findings showed that exercises that cause muscles to contract and strengthen muscles and bones could reduce children's body fat percentage and number of skin folds.

An increase in muscle mass, which can be gained from strength-based exercises, was also found to help boost the children's metabolism and energy levels.

However, resistance training appeared to have no overall significant effect on body mass, BMI, fat-free mass, fat mass, lean mass or waist circumference.

With the effects found small but meaningful, the researchers are now calling for further research to look at how resistance training could both treat and prevent child obesity, a growing global problem with 2016 figures showing that 41 million children aged under 5 were classified as overweight or obese.

"Treatment, and more importantly, prevention, of child obesity is a growing concern. Our findings highlight the need for more robust research into the role strength-based exercises can play in helping everyone make healthy life choices and be more physically active," concluded study author Helen Collins.