Teens May Not Benefit From Too Much Sports

More than 14 hours of engaging in sports weekly may actually be detrimental to the health of teenagers, a new study finds.

Researchers from Switzerland and Canada suggests that 14 hours of physical activity per week is ideal for promoting good health in teenagers but anything beyond that may do more harm than good. The results of their study published in the BMJ Journal Archives of Disease in Childhood tested 1,245 teenagers between the age of 16 and 20 from Switzerland. Participants were required to answer questions pertaining to their height and weight, socio economic status, sports practice, sports injuries and well-being.

The researchers assessed the participants' well-being based on the World Health Organization's Well-Being Index which provides a score between 0 and 25. A score that is below 13 indicates poor well-being. 50.4 percent of the participants were male and nine percent were classified as obese or overweight. They researchers also categorized levels of sports engagement as low, average, high and very high. 35 percent of the participants reported they have low sports activity with zero to 3.5 hours per week. 41.5 percent reported to have average activity at 3.6 to 10.5 hours per week; 18.5 percent reported high sports activity at 10.6 to 17.5 hours per week and five percent reported to have had very high sports activity weekly with 17.6 or more hours per week.

Experts confirmed that the results correspond to an inverted 'U Shaped' link between weekly duration of sports practice and well-being. The highest well-being scores were obtained by participants who carried out 14 hours of physical activity weekly and anything beyond that reflected low well-being scores. "Physical activity has been associated with positive emotional well-being, reduced depressive anxiety and stress disorders, and improved self-esteem and cognitive functioning in children and adolescents," said the researchers.