Lynda Ransdell, U associate professor of exercise and sports science, is addressing one of today’s most serious women’s health issues
Ransdell’s study, Daughters and Mothers Exercising Together, was the second of three studies investigating the success rate of women and their daughters who exercise together.
It also looked at whether exercising at home was as successful as going to a gym or participating in organized programs.
According to Ransdell, adolescent girls and their mothers are getting less exercise than any other population groups in the United States-thus causing a need for the particular study.
“We wanted to do a study to address both groups. Our goal is to increase physical activity between mothers and daughters,” Ransdell said.
The study also considered that mothers often pass on fitness habits to their daughters.
Girls between 14 and 17 years old with mothers between 31 and 60 were invited to participate in one of two groups.
One group met three times a week for activities organized by the U while the other group followed an exercise calendar at home.
The study, published in the January 2003 issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise magazine, confirmed that mother daughter exercise teams were more effective than individuals exercising alone.
It also confirmed that exercising at home can achieve the same results as organized programs.
Exercise and sports science student Darcie Oakland helped run the U-organized activities two years ago.
“It was fun interacting with mothers and daughters and seeing how they viewed exercise differently,” Oakland said.
The results of the study, funded by a faculty research grant, have been published in numerous publications. Its success led to another study, Ransdell said.
This study, called Generations Exercising Together, of G.E.T. Fit, focused on younger girls and invited their grandmothers to participate. It also lasted for six months, longer than the previous study.
Funded by the Primary Children’s Center Foundation, the focus was on bone density in the girls, their mothers and the grandmothers.
As women age, their bone density decreases, making bone fractures more likely and possibly leading to osteoporosis, said Laurie Moyer-Mileur, research associate professor in the medical school’s department of pediatrics and co-investigator in G.E.T. Fit.
This time, girls between 9 and 13 years old were invited because their bones are still developing, Ransdell said.
Ransdell and Moyer-Mileur were looking to see if there would be an increase in bone density in the mothers and grandmothers after six months of exercise.
According to Moyer-Mileur, if adults, especially women, become less active as they grow older, the body will allow the bones to become weaker.
“We thought that if we get them physically active, the body will strengthen the bones,” Moyer Mileur said.
Because weightlifting has proven to strengthen bone density in the young as well as old, the researchers worked hard to introduce it to the three generations.
Sometimes women see weightlifting as a male activity or are intimidated to work out in the same rooms as men, Ransdell said.
The study, which was completed in July of last year, found that bone density increased in the young girls-which occurs anyway as the girls grow-and that it stayed the same in the mothers and grandmothers.
Because bone density decreases naturally as women age, the researchers concluded the exercise program succeeded in keeping the “mineral in the bones,” said Moyer-Mileur.
By helping the three generations of women get more exercise, the researchers are trying to save the women from a disease they are likely to get, but can easily prevent, Moyer-Mileur said.