Exercise reduces suicide attempts among bullied teenagers

As schools continue to reduce physical education, recess and athletic programmes, a new study shows that regular exercise significantly reduces both suicidal thoughts and attempts among students who are bullied.

Using data from the CDC’s National Youth Risk Behavior Survey of 13,583 high school students, researchers at the University of Vermont found that being physically active for four or more days per week resulted in a 23 per cent reduction in suicidal ideation and attempts in bullied students. Nearly 20 per cent of students reported being bullied on school property.

Previous studies have shown that exercise has positive effects on various mental health measures. This is the first, however, to show a link between physical activity and a reduction in suicidal thoughts and attempts by bullied students, who are also at increased risk for poor academic performance, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, sadness and substance abuse.

Overall, 30 per cent of students in the study reported feeling sad for two or more weeks in the previous year while more than 22 per cent reported suicidal ideation and 8.2 per cent reported actual suicidal attempts during the same time period. Bullied students were twice as likely to report sadness and three times as likely to report suicidal ideation or attempt when compared to peers who were not bullied.

Exercise on four or more days per week was also associated with significant reductions in sadness.

“I was surprised that it was that significant and that positive effects of exercise extended to kids actually trying to harm themselves,” said lead author Jeremy Sibold, associate professor and chair of the Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Science. “Even if one kid is protected because we got them involved in an after-school activity or in a physical education programme, it’s worth it.”

The danger of cutting physical education programmes
The release of Sibold’s study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry comes at a time when 44 per cent of the US school administrators have cut significant amounts of time from physical education, arts and recess so that more time could be devoted to reading and mathematics since the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2001, according to a report by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. The same report showed that the percentage of schools offering physical education daily or at least three days a week has declined dramatically between 2001 and 2006.

Overall, it is estimated that only about half of America’s youth meet the current evidence-based guideline of the US Health and Human Services Department of at least 60 minutes of vigorous or moderate-intensity physical activity daily.

“It’s scary and frustrating that exercise isn’t more ubiquitous and that we don’t encourage it more in schools,” says Sibold. “Instead, some kids are put on medication and told “good luck”. If exercise reduces sadness, suicide ideation and suicide attempts, then why in the world are we cutting physical education programmes and making it harder for students to make athletic teams at such a critical age?”

Source: www.eurekalert.org