Adolescents who took more steps around age 12 reported fewer mental health issues one year later, according to a new analysis from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. This research, which included 5,515 participants from various U.S. sites, highlights the potential impact of daily physical activity on mental well-being during a critical developmental stage.
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Participants wore Fitbit Charge 2 devices for three weeks to track their daily movement, averaging 9,595 steps per day. A year later, they completed a questionnaire addressing emotional, behavioral, and attention problems. Higher scores on the questionnaire indicated more mental health issues.
Dr. Divyangana Rakesh, a senior author from King’s College London, emphasized that the study illustrates the importance of everyday movement. She noted, "This study provides some of the clearest evidence yet that simple, low-cost physical activity measures like daily step counts relate to adolescent brain and mental health development."
The analysis revealed that adolescents taking more than 5,000 steps daily reported fewer mental health problems, with those averaging at least 12,000 steps demonstrating the lowest average scores. The report indicated a gradual link between increased steps and decreased mental health issues, without a definitive threshold where benefits plateaued.
The researchers also accounted for the possibility that healthier adolescents might have been more active from the start, but the correlation between daily steps and mental health remained. Brain scans conducted during the study indicated that higher step counts were associated with increased thickness in two regions of the brain: the paracentral cortex and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, which are involved in processing sensory information and managing competing tasks.
Qingyang Li, the lead author, pointed out that these findings could guide future research on the relationship between physical activity and adolescent mental health. However, the study acknowledges certain limitations: the assessment of step counts primarily reflects walking and may not represent the impact of other forms of activity like sports or swimming on mental health.
Dr. Amanda Paluch, an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, underscored the significance of these findings, stating that even modest increments in daily step counts can yield mental health benefits without requiring adolescents to engage in intensive exercise. The goal is to encourage simple, enjoyable activities to increase movement in daily life.
The study is published in the journal JAMA Network Open.