Visit the National Academies Press online and register for

Educating the Student Body
FIGURE 3-1
Conceptual model of how physical activity in childhood and adolescence is 
beneficial to health. Physical activity has both immediate and long-term health benefits: (a) 
Physical activity tends to track; early physical activity is associated with physical activity in 
subsequent life stages. (b) Physical activity reduces morbidity risk in childhood and adoles-
cence. (c) Physical activity may be important in treating and slowing some diseases in children 
and adolescents. (d) Early physical activity influences future morbidity (e.g., physical activity in 
childhood and adolescence may reduce fracture risk later in life).
SOURCE: Adapted from Hallal et al., 2006.
Figure 3-1.eps
Physical Activity
in Childhood
Morbidity in Childhood
Morbidity in Adulthood
Morbidity in Adolescence
Mortality in Adulthood
Physical Activity
in Adolescence
Physical Activity
in Adulthood
a
a
b
c
d
b
c
d
b
c
d
While more can always be learned, the evidence for the health benefits 
of physical activity is irrefutable (HHS, 1996, 2008). Adults engaged in 
regular physical activity have lower rates of chronic disease (e.g., coronary 
heart disease, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, osteo-
porosis, and some cancers) and are less likely to die prematurely (HHS, 
1996, 2008; Bauman, 2004). And while the ill effects of chronic disease are 
manifested mainly in adults, it is increasingly better understood that the 
development of these conditions starts in childhood and adolescence (Hallal 
et al., 2006; Cook et al., 2009; Halfon et al., 2012). It appears evident, 
then, that promotion of health-enhancing behaviors must also start early 
in life. Indeed, growing evidence points to long-term effects of child and 
adolescent physical activity on adult morbidity and mortality in addition to 
its more immediate effects (Hallal et al., 2006) (see Figure 3-1). 
Evidence for both direct and indirect health effects of physical activity 
has been reported (Hallal et al., 2006), and the need for ongoing participa-
tion in physical activity to stimulate and maintain the chronic adaptations 
that underlie those benefits is well documented. To understand the relation-

---

Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
Relationship to Growth, Development, and Health
 
101
ship of physical activity and aerobic fitness to health during childhood, 
it is important first to recognize the developmental changes that occur 
throughout maturation. During the early stages of adolescence, for example,