Fitter Kids May Grow Into Less Depressed Adults

Kids who run and play will reap mental health benefits into middle age, a new study says.

Active, fit children appear to have a lower risk of developing depression in their late 30s and 40s, researchers reported recently in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Specifically, cardio fitness boosted kids’ future mental health, researchers found.

On the other hand, there was no clear link between stronger muscles and depression risk.

“This study shows that children and teenagers with better cardiorespiratory fitness had a lower risk of developing depression as adults,” said investigator Grant Tomkinson, a researcher at Adelaide University in Australia.

“Importantly, fitness is something we can change,” Tomkinson added in a news release. “It may be an important target for improving long-term mental health.” 

For the new study, researchers tracked more than 1,000 people who as children in 1985 had their fitness tested.

Most kids’ cardio health was tested by seeing how fast they could run one mile, and their muscle fitness by having them perform a standing long jump. Some also had their heart rate measured while they rode a stationary bike and performed handgrip strength tests.

“We already know that being physically active is good for our mental health, and previous research has shown that fitter adults are less likely to develop depression,” Tomkinson said. “But we know relatively little about whether being fit early in life is linked to better mental health decades later.”

Results showed that better cardio fitness was associated with a 20% lower rate of depression among women and an 11% lower rate among men by the time they were 36 to 49 years old. 

“The strongest and most consistent associations in our study were observed for cardiorespiratory fitness, or fitness developed through activities that make you huff and puff,” senior researcher Brooklyn Fraser, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Tasmania in Australia, said in a news release.

These results highlight the need to delve more deeply into the ways in which childhood health can influence problems like depression, said lead researcher Kylie Smith, a senior fellow at the University of Tasmania.

“There are many contributing factors to depression, meaning no single factor explains risk on its own. Fitness may be one piece of the puzzle,” she said in a news release.

“While we cannot say a lack of fitness during childhood causes depression in adults, the findings suggest that childhood fitness may have benefits beyond physical health,” Smith added.

More information

The Cleveland Clinic has more on fitness and mental health.

SOURCES: Adelaide University, news release, Sept. 30, 2026; Journal of Affective Disorders, online, Aug. 13, 2026