Strength training could help to improve levels of activity in young people, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.

Researchers randomly selected 102 children between the ages of 10 and 14 from fifth and seventh-grade classes, before splitting them into two groups for the study.

One group was given a 45-minute strength training exercise programme to adhere to twice a week, while the other group was assigned to regular school gym classes.

Each participant was asked to wear a device that measured how much he or she moved over a period of a week before the programme began and again after it had finished.

Those that followed the strength training regime – which included crunches and bench presses – turned out to be stronger after the study, with both boys and girls improving their leg and arm strength after 19 weeks of training compared to those who went to gym classes.

It was also found that boys had upped their weekly exercise levels by 10 per cent, with the increased burning of energy equivalent to an extra 28-mile weekly bike ride.

The lack of exercise increases in the girls who took part in the strength training programme was thought to be down to more girls having already entered puberty, meaning that hormonal changes could have impacted on their activity levels.

After a few months of the study ending, it was found that the boys’ activity levels had decreased back to their normal standing. This suggested that it is necessary to keep up the training in order to receive longer-term benefits.

The study has also given an indictor that strength training could be a safer method than originally thought, with none of the children picking up injuries during the investigation. This is in part explainable due to the participants being given an education in the methods and techniques required when lifting or conducting each exercise before they were able to take part in it.

"The initial idea was that training increases children's motivation to be physically active," said Dr. Udo Meinhardt leader of the study at the PEZZ Centre for Pediatric Endocrinology in Zurich, Switzerland.

"Our message would clearly be that yes, strength training should be a part of the gym class setting.”

A copy of the study is available to view online here: http://lei.sr?a=2R2Q8