Dogs make children physically and mentally fitter

Regular exercise promotes children’s physical and mental health. That’s why the World Health Organization recommends that children aged one to four years should be physically active for three hours a day. Between the ages of five and seventeen, children should participate in moderate to intensive exercise for at least an hour every day, for example by playing or exercising.

Many children exercise too little
But many children fail to get enough exercise every day. Can a dog help around the house? Many studies show that children who grow up with dogs are more active than children without dogs. Children and young people who often walk and play with their animals are more likely than others to achieve the recommended amount and duration of physical activity.

But do children only become more active when they get a dog? Or are more and more families getting a dog if they already lead an active lifestyle? How exactly children’s behavior is related to owning a dog has hardly been analyzed so far.

Long-term study with 600 children
The research team led by Emma Adams from the University of Western Australia examined how the acquisition, ownership and loss of a dog affects children’s physical activity. To do this, it used data from exercise monitors and parent statements from an existing long-term study (2015 to 2021) on the activity of 600 children aged two to seven years. In this period, 204 children always had a dog, 58 children had a dog in this period and in 31 children a dog had died in the meantime. 307 had no dog.

The authors found that children who consistently owned a dog were more physically active than children without a dog. Girls with dogs did on average eight more physical activities per week, such as playing outside, walking or playing with the dog, than girls without dogs. For boys with dogs this was seven more per week.

The increase is especially noticeable in girls
When children got a dog during the study, the number of these weekly physical activities increased by seven. The researchers were able to observe an increase in light activity, especially in girls. They spent just over 52 minutes more time each day on light exercise and games, including slow walking and crafts.

In contrast, children whose dogs died during the study were less active than before. The number of physical activities per week fell by eight for boys and ten for girls. Here too, the authors found that the behavior of girls was influenced more than that of boys. After their dog died, they spent more than an hour less time each day in light physical activity and play than before.

When children lose their dog, activity decreases
“Children who have lost their dog may be less physically active because they are still grieving for their dog,” the researchers explain in their study. “Research has shown that people often try to cope with the loss of a pet by avoiding certain activities.” This includes activities that are reminiscent of the dog. If walking with the family dog ​​is not replaced by other activities after his death, it is quite possible that children will exercise less.

“Overall, our results suggest that purchasing and owning a dog has a positive impact on children’s physical activity,” the authors conclude. The study provides the first evidence that getting a dog can lead to an increase in certain types of physical activity. According to the authors, having a dog in the family could also reduce the risk of chronic diseases in children in the long term.

How often and for how long children are physically active can depend greatly on the breed, age and size of the dog. Therefore, these features should be taken into account in further research.