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A study of Quebec children has found a link between consistent participation in organized sports in childhood and better emotional health once the child reaches the age of 12.

Intuitively, parents know that sport is good for their children.

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But some Université de Montréal researchers wanted to evaluate the impact of organized sports on the level of psychological distress of their teenagers.

Organized sports are activities that are supervised by a coach, whether it be a team sport, such as soccer, or an individual sport, such as tennis, and that are practiced regularly between the ages of six and 10.

The researchers’ goal was to see how regular participation in sports contributed to reducing emotional difficulties beyond the children’s other characteristics and their families.

The result? Children who participated regularly in organized sports were more likely to have better mental health at age 12, meaning less emotional distress, and less timidness, withdrawal and social anxiety, Linda Pagani, a researcher with the Centre de recherche du CHU Sainte-Justine and professor at the École de psychoéducation of the Université de Montréal. Pagani worked on the study, which was led by her colleague at the École de psychoéducation, Frédéric Brière.