Strong Legs, Healthy Kids: Why Lower Body Strength Could Be One of the Best Predictors of Your Child's Future Health
Written by Dr Julian Simpson — Chiropractor with 15+ years of experience, Board Member of the Chiropractic Australia Research Foundation, and author/reviewer of 800+ health articles.
Strong Legs, Healthy Kids: Why Lower Body Strength Could Be One of the Best Predictors of Your Child's Future Health
From climbing at the playground to kicking a footy, running around the backyard, or simply keeping up with friends at school, strong legs do far more than help children stay active—they may also provide an important window into their overall health.
A major 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis has highlighted something many parents may not realise: lower body muscle strength isn't just about sporting performance. It may help predict a child's risk of developing obesity, poor metabolic health and other chronic health issues later in life.
At Health Wise Chiropractic, we love seeing children and families throughout Sunbury and Melton staying active and healthy. Whether your family spends weekends at local sporting clubs or you're regularly travelling along the Calder Freeway or Western Highway between work, school and activities, helping children build strength early in life can have lifelong benefits.
Let's take a closer look at what the latest research found—and what families can do to support healthy growth and movement.
Why Muscle Strength Matters More Than You Think
When most people think about children's fitness, they usually think about cardiovascular fitness—running, swimming or cycling.
However, researchers now recognise that musculoskeletal fitness is just as important.
This includes:
Muscular strength – how much force muscles can produce.
Muscular endurance – how long muscles can continue working.
Muscular power – how quickly muscles can generate force, such as when jumping.
These qualities don't simply help children perform better in sport—they're strongly linked with overall health.
Previous research has already shown muscular fitness is associated with:
Stronger bones
Better cardiovascular health
Improved insulin sensitivity
Lower inflammation
Reduced risk of metabolic syndrome
The latest review focused specifically on lower body strength and power, asking one important question:
Can strong legs predict better health in children and teenagers?
What Did The Research Look At?
Researchers reviewed 24 studies involving an impressive 121,306 healthy children and adolescents aged 6–18 years from over 20 countries.
Most studies assessed lower body strength using simple field tests such as:
Standing Long Jump
Standing Broad Jump
Countermovement Jump
Vertical Jump
These easy tests were then compared with important health markers including:
Body fat
Waist circumference
Skinfold measurements
Insulin resistance
Cardiometabolic risk
Blood pressure
Bone health
Because these are simple tests requiring minimal equipment, they're practical for schools, sporting clubs and large community health programmes.
Stronger Legs Were Linked With Healthier Body Composition
One of the clearest findings was the relationship between leg strength and body fat.
Children with greater lower body strength consistently had healthier body composition.
The pooled results showed:
Waist circumference: small but significant negative relationship (r = -0.27)
Body fat percentage: moderate negative relationship (r = -0.31)
Skinfold thickness: moderate negative relationship (r = -0.31)
In simple terms:
The stronger a child's lower body muscles were, the less body fat they tended to carry.
Researchers believe this happens for several reasons.
Stronger muscles:
Burn more energy throughout the day
Improve metabolic efficiency
Help regulate blood sugar
Make movement easier and more enjoyable
Encourage greater participation in physical activity
Extra body fat also makes jumping and explosive movements more difficult, creating a cycle where lower strength and reduced activity can reinforce one another.
Better Muscle Strength Was Associated With Lower Metabolic Risk
Another major finding involved metabolic health.
Researchers found children with greater lower body strength had:
Lower insulin resistance
The pooled analysis showed:
HOMA-IR (insulin resistance):
r = -0.20
Although considered a small effect statistically, researchers noted that even modest improvements in insulin sensitivity during childhood can have meaningful long-term health benefits.
Since skeletal muscle is the body's largest insulin-sensitive tissue, stronger muscles help:
Improve glucose uptake
Improve insulin sensitivity
Increase daily energy expenditure
Support healthier metabolism
Lower overall cardiometabolic risk
Across five studies, stronger children also demonstrated:
Cardiometabolic risk score:
r = -0.27
This suggests muscular fitness may help reduce future risk factors associated with:
Type 2 diabetes
Heart disease
Metabolic syndrome
Importantly, researchers noted these benefits appear independently of cardiovascular fitness.
That means strength training isn't simply a bonus—it plays its own unique role in supporting health.
What About Blood Pressure?
Interestingly, the review found no consistent relationship between lower body strength and blood pressure.
Researchers believe this is largely because most children included in the studies already had normal blood pressure.
Blood pressure benefits may become more obvious in children who are:
Overweight
Less active
Already developing metabolic risk factors
Bone Health: More Complex Than Expected
Strong muscles and healthy bones often go hand in hand.
While many individual studies found positive relationships between jumping ability and bone density, the overall meta-analysis did not find a statistically significant relationship between lower body strength alone and bone mineral density.
Why?
Bone health depends on many factors, including:
Genetics
Nutrition
Hormones
Growth stage
Physical activity
Lean muscle mass
Researchers believe lean muscle may actually be the missing link.
As muscles become stronger and larger, they place healthy stress on bones, encouraging them to become stronger too.
This reinforces the importance of keeping children physically active throughout their growing years.
Why a holistic approach works bestStrong muscles are only one piece of the puzzle. Children thrive when regular physical activity is combined with healthy spinal movement, nutritious eating, quality sleep, appropriate recovery and supportive healthcare. At Health Wise Chiropractic, we believe encouraging confident movement, good posture and active lifestyles helps children build healthy habits that can last well into adulthood.
The World Health Organisation's Recommendations
The findings strongly support the current recommendations from the World Health Organisation.
Children and adolescents should:
Be physically active every day.
Include muscle-strengthening activities on at least three days each week.
Combine these with regular aerobic exercise.
The goal isn't heavy weightlifting.
For younger children, muscle-strengthening activities naturally include:
Climbing playground equipment
Jumping games
Running
Gymnastics
Monkey bars
Dancing
Skipping
Sport
As teenagers mature, structured resistance training with appropriate supervision can also be introduced.
Practical Ways Parents Can Build Lower Body Strength
The research didn't investigate a specific exercise programme, but based on the field tests used and current physical activity guidelines, children benefit from activities that develop jumping, landing and lower limb strength.
Some fun options include:
Jump Games
Standing long jumps
Hopscotch
Broad jumps
Jump rope
Playground Challenges
Climbing
Step-ups
Balance beams
Monkey bars
Sport
Netball
Athletics
Simple Home Activities
Bodyweight squats
Walking lunges
Step-ups
Mini obstacle courses
Skipping
The key is making movement enjoyable rather than treating exercise like a chore.
What This Means for Families in Sunbury and Melton
Modern family life often involves long school days, homework, screens and plenty of time spent in the car travelling around Sunbury, Melton and Melbourne's growing western suburbs.
It's easy for active play to slowly disappear.
The good news is that improving muscular fitness doesn't require expensive gym memberships or elite sporting programmes.
Regular opportunities to:
Jump
Run
Climb
Play
Strengthen
can make a meaningful contribution to a child's long-term health.
Supporting healthy posture, spinal movement and confidence in physical activity can also help children stay active as they grow.
The Takeaway
This large review involving more than 121,000 children and adolescents provides strong evidence that lower body muscular strength is an important indicator of overall health.
Children with stronger lower body muscles were more likely to have:
Lower body fat
Smaller waist circumference
Better insulin sensitivity
Lower cardiometabolic risk
Healthier long-term metabolic profiles
While strength alone doesn't determine bone health or blood pressure, it forms an important part of a healthy, active lifestyle.
Helping children move well today may help protect their health for many years to come.
Helping Local Families Stay Active
At Health Wise Chiropractic, our experienced team enjoys working with families from Sunbury, Melton and surrounding communities. Whether your child is involved in local sport, experiencing growing pains, spending long hours at school, or simply wanting to stay active and healthy, we're passionate about helping children move confidently through every stage of growth.
If you'd like personalised advice on posture, movement, spinal health or supporting your child's active lifestyle, we'd love to welcome you to our Sunbury or Melton clinics.
How Chiropractic Care May Help
At Health Wise Chiropractic, we take a comprehensive approach to posture-related care.
Treatment may include:
We focus on addressing both the symptoms and the underlying biomechanical stress contributing to neck dysfunction.
About the Author
Dr Julian Simpson is an Australian chiropractor with over 15 years of experience in musculoskeletal healthcare and rehabilitation.
He is a Board Member of the Chiropractic Australia Research Foundation and has reviewed and written more than 800 evidence-based health articles focused on spinal health, rehabilitation, sports injuries and conservative care approaches.
His treatment focus includes:
Chiropractic adjustments
Sports chiropractic
Massage therapy
Shockwave therapy
Laser therapy
Non-surgical spinal decompression
Dr Simpson provides patient care through Healthwise Chiropractic, serving communities including Sunbury, Melton, Diggers Rest and surrounding regions.
Reference
Moreno-Gonzalez L, Alonso-Callejo A, Felipe JL, Manzano-Carrasco S, Gallardo L, Garcia-Unanue J. Lower body muscular strength as a predictor of health indicators in youth population: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med Health Sci. 2025 Jun 14;8(3):273-290. doi: 10.1016/j.smhs.2025.06.004. PMID: 42125183; PMCID: PMC13159449.
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