Physical Activity and its Role in Children’s Health and Disease

Dear Colleagues,

Physical activity is associated with numerous health benefits in children and youth. The dose-response relations between physical activity and health found in several observational studies suggest that the more physical activity, the greater the health benefit. However, the results from several experimental studies suggested that even modest amounts of physical activity can have tremendous health benefits in high-risk children (e.g., obese, with high blood pressure).  In contrast, physical inactivity and sedentary behavior are recognized as important determinants for chronic disease. Moreover, it is generally accepted that the onset of many chronic diseases lies in early childhood, thus preventive strategies should start as early in life as possible.

The goal of this special issue is to discuss and share knowledge about incompletely understood or controversial areas in the field of physical activity in children, highlight areas where research is most robust at this time, and identify areas where research is lacking or evolving (e.g. sleep, build environment).

Both reviews and original research publications will be considered for publication. Examples include manuscripts that discuss how much, what types and intensity of physical activity is needed for minimal and optimal health benefit, or do the effects of physical activity on health vary by sex and/or age in children and youth. Other area of interest is the role of physical activity as an adjuvant therapy in disease. It has been reported that physical activity is beneficial post-surgery, asthma, rheumatoid arthitis, genetic diaseases (e.g. Down syndrome, Prader Willi syndrome, sickle cell disease), and cancer. Manuscripts further exploring the role of physical activity in these and other diseases are welcomed. Finally, recent technological progress in physical activity monitoring in natural living environment allows more detailed assessments of individual physical activity amount and patterns.  Reports documenting this progress are important because of the rapidly growing interest in sedentary behavior and sleep patterns and their relationship to health in children and youth.

Prof. Mac Buchowski
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• physical activity
• children
• youth
• sedentary behavior