Credit: http://museumvolunteersmalaysia.files.wordpress.com |
Giving
back through volunteering is good for your heart, even at a young age,
according to University of British Columbia researchers.
For
their study, researchers from UBC's Faculty of Education and Department of
Psychology wanted to find out how volunteering might impact physical health
among adolescents.
"It
was encouraging to see how a social intervention to support members of the
community also improved the health of adolescents," says Hannah Schreier,
who conducted this research during her doctoral studies at UBC.
Researchers
split 106 Grade 10 students from an urban, inner-city Vancouver high school
into two groups -- a group that volunteered regularly for 10 weeks and a group
that was wait-listed for volunteer activities. The researchers measured the
students' body mass index (BMI), inflammation and cholesterol levels before and
after the study. They also assessed the students' self-esteem, mental health,
mood, and empathy.
The
volunteer group of students spent one hour per week working with elementary
school children in after-school programs in their neighborhood. After 10 weeks
they had lower levels of inflammation and cholesterol and lower BMIs than the
students who were wait-listed.
"The
volunteers who reported the greatest increases in empathy, altruistic behaviour
and mental health were the ones who also saw the greatest improvements in their
cardiovascular health," says Schreier, now a postdoctoral fellow at the
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
Cardiovascular
disease is one of the leading causes of mortality in Canada and the United
States. The first signs of the disease can begin to appear during adolescence.
Previous studies show that psychosocial factors, such as stress, depression and
wellbeing, play a role in the disease.
###
The above story is based on the February 25, 2013 news release by University of British Columbia.
This study has been published online in in the journal
JAMA Pediatrics:
Schreier
HMC, Schonert-Reichl KA, Chen E. Effect
of Volunteering on Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in Adolescents: A
Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA Pediatr. 2013;():1-6. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.1100
Further information
RockCorps Malaysia is part of a global volunteer movement that aims
to reshape the mindset of young people on their view towards volunteerism.
Click HERE for details.
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