The Issue: Children can develop depressive and anxiety disorders and if no early intervention is made, they can become life-long problems, but only 20% of children with these conditions receive the help they need. It would be better to try to prevent the occurrence of these conditions, rather than wait until there is a problem in need of treatment. It may be that improving self-esteem will lessen the likelihood of children becoming depressed or anxious.

The Research: There is some evidence that exercise can improve symptoms of depression and anxiety in adults, as well as improving their general well-being. Previously no one has looked at whether or not exercise can prevent the development of these conditions, which often originate in childhood.  The interventions being tested is exercise programs either as stand alone programs or as part of comprehensive programs that target children and youths aged 3 to 20. The exercises were running, swimming, ball games and moderate to high intensity outdoor play of moderate, or weight/strength training. The goal of the interventions was to see whether or not they improved the self-esteem of the participants.

The Results: The authors searched multiple databases and consulted other sources for reports of Randomized controlled trials of exercise programs to improve the self-esteem of children aged 3 to 20. The studies had to have lasted 4 or more weeks and use standardized tests to measure self-esteem. The review examined 23 studies with a total of 1821 participants. Some of the trials compared exercise alone to no intervention and others compared exercise as part of a comprehensive program to no intervention. The studies each had small numbers of participants and the way they were conducted made it possible to combine the results of only 8 of the studies. Both factors limit the strength of the evidence for exercise as an effective way to improve self-esteem. From these limited data, it appears that exercise can improve self esteem in children and youths in the short term, especially those at risk for the development of mental health problems because of  their negative behaviours, their social situation, or because of physical, intellectual, or learning disabilities.

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The preceding is a summary of: Ekeland E, Heian F, Hagen KB, Abbott J, Nordheim L. Exercise to improve self-esteem in children and young people. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2004, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD003683.pub2. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003683.pub2.