New research published in the May issue of Acta Paediatrica has found that children as young as nine-years-old increase the risk of future heart problems if they are inactive.

The study was undertaken by a team of researchers from Sweden and Denmark and looked at physical activity levels of 223 children, with an average age of 9.8-years-old. Children who were more physically active during the four-day research period were found to have a lower composite risk factor score for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The new study revealed that boys were "significantly" more active than girls, while girls had a higher resting heart rate with 85 beats per minute, compared with 80 for the boys. Dr Tina Tanha of the Department of Clinical Sciences at Skane University Hospital, Malmo, Sweden, was the lead author on the report.

"We believe that our study now demonstrates a clear clinical association between physical inactivity and multiple CVD risk factors in children," said Dr Tanha. "It reveals that up to 11 per cent of the variance in composite CVD risk factor scores in the children could be explained by differences in their physical activity."

Details: Acta Paediatrica Image: Catalin Petolea/shutterstock.com