Exercise important in teens' blood pressure control (Canada)

"Regular exercise may help keep teenagers' blood pressure in check, regardless of their body weight, a new study suggests. Researchers found that among nearly 1,300 Canadian teenagers they followed for five years, declining exercise levels over time were linked to small increases in blood pressure. Gains in body fat were also linked to blood pressure increases, but excess weight did not fully account for the relationship between exercise and blood pressure changes - especially in girls. The implication, the researchers report in the American Journal of Epidemiology, is that both weight and exercise habits independently affect teenagers' blood pressure. And that means that getting teens off the couch might help keep their blood pressure under better control, write Katerina Maximova and colleagues of McGill University in Montreal. The findings are based on 1,293 boys and girls who were 12 to 13 years old at the start of the study. The teens reported on their typical physical activity levels and had their body fat and blood pressure measured at the outset, and then periodically over five years"