Family dog might make teenagers more active

Teenagers who live in homes with dogs get a bit more daily exercise than those without pets.

Some studies have suggested that pet owners are healthier than other people, although research findings have been inconsistent. In terms of dogs in particular, some research from Australia has suggested that their adult owners are more physically active than others.

To assess the relationship of family dog ownership to adolescent physical activity, researchers examined a 2006-2008 survey of 618 adolescent / parent pairs in the United States. The teenagers – almost 50 percent were male and their average age about 14 years old - wore devices to measure their physical activity.

White American and wealthier families were more likely to own dogs. When the researchers adjusted the figures to account for other confounding factors like age, puberty, gender, race, total household members, and socio-economic status, it was found that adolescent physical activity remained significantly associated with dog ownership, whereas the association with minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day became non-significant. No significant results were observed for other adolescent characteristics. Teenagers in families without dogs got an average of 30 minutes of physical activity a day compared to 32 minutes among those with dogs. However, neither dog owners nor non-owners got enough exercise to meet current guidelines, which suggest an hour of activity a day. Still, those with dogs were less sedentary than their peers without a four-legged friend, but it's unclear what specific role the dog might play.

The researchers speculated that it could be that teenagers walk the family dog or play with it. Or it may just be that families that are more active have more dogs.

The study doesn't prove that dog ownership directly leads to more active children, but there does still seem to be some association between owning a dog and adolescent physical activity.