METHODS The results of recent systematic review s are discussed and supplemented with relevant literature not included in these review s. PubMed was search ed for the years 2006 - 2011 for additional topics not sufficiently covered by the review s. RESULTS PA was associated with lower blood pressure and a healthier lipid blood profile in children .
The association was stronger when a composite risk factor score was analysed , and the associations between physical fitness and cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) risk factors were even stronger .
Muscle strength and endurance exercise each had an effect on blood lipids and insulin sensitivity even if the effect was smaller for muscle strength than for aerobic exercise .
New evidence suggests possible effects of PA  on C-reactive protein .
CONCLUSION There is accumulating evidence that PA can have beneficial effects on the risk factors of CVD in children .
BACKGROUND A number of recent systematic review s have result ed in changes in international recommendations for children 's participation in physical activity ( PA ) for health .
The World Health Authority ( WHO ) has recently released new recommendations .
The WHO still recommends 60 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity ( MVPA ) , but also emphasises that these minutes should be on top of everyday physical activities .
Everyday physical activities total around 30 min of MVPA in the quintile of the least active children , which means that the new recommendations constitute more activity in total compared with earlier recommendations .
OBJECTIVE To summarise evidence justifying new PA recommendation for cardiovascular health in children .
Action Schools! BC: a school-based physical activity intervention designed to decrease cardiovascular disease risk factors in children.
OBJECTIVE Our primary objective was to determine whether a novel ' active school ' model -- Action Schools ! BC -- improved the cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) risk profile in elementary-school children . Our secondary objective was to determine the percentage of children with elevated CVD risk factors . METHODS We undertook a cluster-r and omized controlled school-based trial with 8 elementary schools across 1 school year , in British Columbia , Canada , beginning in 2003 . Boys and girls ( n=268 , age 9 - 11 years ) were r and omly assigned ( by school ) to usual practice ( UP , 2 schools ) or intervention ( INT , 6 schools ) groups . We assessed change between groups in cardiovascular fitness ( 20-m Shuttle Run ) , blood pressure ( BP ) , and body mass index ( BMI , wt/ht(2 ) ) . We evaluated total cholesterol ( TC ) , total : high-density cholesterol ( TC : HDL-C ) , low-density lipoprotein , apolipoprotein B , C-reactive protein and fibrinogen on a subset of volunteers ( n=77 ) . RESULTS INT children had a 20 % greater increase in fitness and a 5.7 % smaller increase in BP compared with children attending UP schools ( P<0.05 ) . Forty five percent of children had at least one elevated risk factor ( fitness , BP or BMI ) at baseline . There were no significant differences between groups for change in BMI or in any of the blood variables . CONCLUSION Action Schools ! BC was an effective school-based physical activity model for improving the CVD risk profile of elementary-school children . Our multi-component intervention exposed children to fitness enhancing physical activity . It may be important for education stakeholders to adequately re source the delivery of the active school models if cardiovascular health benefits are to be achieved on a population basis
METHODS The results of recent systematic review s are discussed and supplemented with relevant literature not included in these review s. PubMed was search ed for the years 2006 - 2011 for additional topics not sufficiently covered by the review s. RESULTS PA was associated with lower blood pressure and a healthier lipid blood profile in children .
The association was stronger when a composite risk factor score was analysed , and the associations between physical fitness and cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) risk factors were even stronger .
Muscle strength and endurance exercise each had an effect on blood lipids and insulin sensitivity even if the effect was smaller for muscle strength than for aerobic exercise .
New evidence suggests possible effects of PA  on C-reactive protein .
CONCLUSION There is accumulating evidence that PA can have beneficial effects on the risk factors of CVD in children .
BACKGROUND A number of recent systematic review s have result ed in changes in international recommendations for children 's participation in physical activity ( PA ) for health .
The World Health Authority ( WHO ) has recently released new recommendations .
The WHO still recommends 60 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity ( MVPA ) , but also emphasises that these minutes should be on top of everyday physical activities .
Everyday physical activities total around 30 min of MVPA in the quintile of the least active children , which means that the new recommendations constitute more activity in total compared with earlier recommendations .
OBJECTIVE To summarise evidence justifying new PA recommendation for cardiovascular health in children .