Regular school sports can stop children feeling depressed, research suggests. Teenagers who exercised at least three days a week improved their mental health, the study said.
It found that physical activity was a “remarkable medicine” for youngsters with depression, and should be instilled in school curriculums to boost their wellbeing.
The research looked at data from trials involving 2,400 children, with an average age of 14, from countries including Britain.
Assessments ranked children’s depressive symptoms, such as feeling sad or struggling to sleep, before and after exercise. The exercises, over three months, involved at least three days of sport a week, with each session lasting 50 minutes on average.
