Lo lifestyle of a child can affect their health as adults. A recent study has highlighted how children with excessively sedentary habits are approximately 6 hours of sedentary lifestyle per dayare at risk of developing liver problems such as cirrhosis and fatty liver as adults.
physical activity for the liver
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The research was published by the journal npj Gut and Liver and made by Andrew Agbaje expert from the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Exeter. The study, also presented at Endo 2024 (congress of the Endocrine Society in Boston), was based on data from Alspac and involved 2500 UK children aged 11-24. The subjects wore an accelerometer, a device that measures how physically active they were, for regular periods of time. They then underwent liver ultrasound at ages 17 and 24 to assess the presence of fat in the liver or scarring typical of cirrhosis, while their liver enzymes were checked through blood tests.
sedentary children
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It thus emerged that children are sedentary for six hours a day which rises to nine when they are teenagers, while the average of moderate physical activity is another six hours a day. Once this balance is upset, for every additional half hour of sedentary activity recorded, the chance that they will develop fatty liver disease by age 25 increases by 15%. On the contrary, for every additional half hour of physical activity even at low intensity, for more than three hours a day, there is a 33% reduction in the risk of developing fatty liver.
cirrhosis and fatty liver
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The cirrhosis it is a chronic disease characterized by the formation of fibrous tissue that develops after years spent fighting pathologies such as hepatitis or problems such as alcohol abuse which damage the liver. If it is not treated in time it is fatal as the fibrous scars reduce blood flow to the organ causing pulmonary hypertension which can lead to haemorrhages. The fat liver it is a liver disease linked to the accumulation of fatty tissue in the liver, this can also be linked to alcohol consumption, or to metabolic syndrome.
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Children, how much physical activity?
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To avoid developing liver problems as adults, it is recommended for children light activity for at least three hours a daywhich is preferable to 60 minutes of moderate or intense physical activity, according to Professor Agbaje, author of the study. It is considered light physical activity playing outdoor games, walking the dog, walking, cycling, running small errands, anything other than sitting still in front of a screen. “We discovered that the relationship between sedentary lifestyle and liver damage is most likely causal. Excessive sedentary lifestyle is a danger for children and young adults” highlighted the professor a stranger stressing that fatty liver or cirrhosis can also lead to the risk of developing liver cancer and degenerate until a transplant.
