A new study from Michigan State University found that middle school students who perform well on physical fitness tests also do better academically.
Dr. James Pivarnik and his colleagues found that, of 317 students in grades six through eight, the fittest scored 30 percent higher than average on standardized tests, whereas the least fit had grades that were between 13 and 20 percent lower in four core classes.

Dr. Pivarnik and other experts believe that exercise helps children to burn off pent-up energy, which leads to better focus as it increases blood flow to the brain.
Experts like Dr. Pivarnik do not rate all exercise for children as equally effective. For example, during some unstructured play periods and with some organized sports, children spend more time waiting for their turns than actually participating.

A study from Kansas State University monitored 29 children as they played tag. Many children just stood around once they were "tagged out" and did not really get much exercise, according to author Dr. David Dzewaltowski.

Dr. Dzewaltowski advised parents to look for coaches who keep all players active during practice sessions by using multiple training stations, and to choose sports such as soccer that require more overall activity for every player, not just the team's stars.

Labels: fitness, grades, physical_activity

A University of Toronto nutritionist has found that children who ate their lunches in front of a television set consumed 228 more calories than those who ate without such a distraction.

Dr. Harvey Anderson, an expert on childhood obesity, believes that eating while watching TV interferes with the body's natural ability to know when to stop eating. According to his report, which was funded and released by the Canadian Institute for Health Research, "mindless television produces mindless eating."

Labels: mindless_eating, overeating, TV

The New York State's Comptroller's office has released a report stating that childhood obesity costs New York taxpayers more than $242 million a year. The office is turning to local schools for help, and the East Syracuse district is stepping up to the challenge.

"ES-M Superintendent Donna DeSiato says her district has incorporated healthier programs in a three-prong-process... The process includes an early curriculum, starting at pre-K, integrating more physical fitness in to the school day, and creating a healthier school lunch program."

The new lunch program includes swapping out whole milk for one-percent milk, and using whole-wheat products. Source: WSYR-TV Syracuse

Labels: costs_of_childhoood_obesity, schools

Most people are familiar with the Food Pyramid that explains many daily servings we should have from the primary food groups. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has developed a new pyramid for children that is based on portion control.

"For Ben [a 4-year-old], who can't stop moving, we entered his physical activity at more than 60 minutes a day. Meaning he needs about five ounces of grains a day, two cups of veggies, and so on. The pyramid helps outline not only what foods kids should be eating, but how much."

The first revised Food Pyramid applied to children between the ages of three and five, but the USDA has also developed a pyramid for older children. Source: KMOT-TV (ND)

Labels: food_pyramid, nutrition, portion_control

A recent study on brain activity seems to refute the commonly held opinion that overweight people eat more because they love to eat. The study, conducted through the Oregon Research Institute, found that obese people actually enjoy food less, and so end up eating more in order to compensate.

"[When women] tasted a chocolate milkshake or tasteless liquid, the heavier women had less activity in their brains' pleasure centers. The women with the gene variant had the lowest pleasure response when tasting the milkshake. They had to consume more of the shake to get the same pleasure response."

The gene variant, known at Taq1A1, appears to be linked with lower dopamine receptors in the brain. Since dopamine is the primary transmitter for the brain's reward system, fewer receptors means the reward system is impeded. Researchers are now trying to determine whether reward systems can be reset. Source: Health News

Labels: brain_activity, causes of childhood obesity, genetics

Insisting that your child "cleans his plate" may lead to his overeating, according to a study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Researchers from Cornell University studied 63 preschoolers in daycare settings. The ones whose parents enforced a "clean plate" rule were more likely to ask for seconds.

"Parents who insist children clean their plates may be asserting excess control," said Dr. Brian Wansink, author of the study. "They could unknowingly be inhibiting the development of the child's self-control around food."

Labels: overeating, parenting

As more teens become overweight, instances of severe liver damage are also on the rise.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease now affects two to five percent of all American children over five years, according to a study from the American Liver Foundation. As many as half of all obese children have the condition, which can progress to life-threatening cirrhosis, liver failure, or liver cancer. Many of today's teens will someday need liver transplants.

Children with belly fat and obesity-related conditions such as diabetes, heart problems and high cholesterol are more likely to have fatty liver diseases, which can be detected by a simple blood test.

Labels: fatty-foods, health_risks, liver_damage

Weight loss programs that focus on changing behaviors can help obese children, according to a report from the United States Department of Health and Human Services Agency.

About 17 percent of American children are obese, which means that their body mass indices are in the 95th percentile for their age, weight, and height. Obesity puts these children at risk for diabetes, fatty liver disease, heart problems, and other medical maladies.

The children in the study ranged in age from eight to 16. Some attended programs that met outside of school once or twice a week for six to twelve months. The most effective ones emphasized good diet and exercise habits.

At the end of the programs, participants had lost between three and 23 pounds. Heavier children and those enrolled in the most intensive weight loss programs for teens achieved the best results.

"Obese children and their families may be discouraged about their weight, but our review found there are programs out there that can help kids to either gain weight more slowly as they grow or, when appropriate, lose weight," said Dr. Evelyn Whitlock, a director of the Kaiser Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon.

Labels: behaviors, lifestyle, therapy

Overweight teenagers have overweight friends and parents, who in turn may influence them to remain heavy, according to a new study from RTI International.

Teens and their friends were likely to be close to the same weights, regardless of their socio-economic status, smoking status, and household characteristics. Overweight girls, in particular, were more likely to have overweight friends. The researchers used data on children in the seventh to 12th grades that had been collected during the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

Dr. Justin Trogdon, the author of the study, said the results help to explain why so many more teenagers remain overweight.

This study appears in the Journal of Health Economics.

Labels: families, influences, peers

According to a new study from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, overweight children are more likely than their leaner peers to suffer from headaches - but if they lose weight, the headaches lessen or go away.

Dr. Andrew Hershey studied 913 children for six months, and found that the more overweight a child is, the more frequent and painful his headaches are. Some of the children had painful headaches as often as every other day.

Dr. Hershey said he believes that the cause of such headaches may be low levels of leptin, a hormone that makes people feel full after eating. Since overweight children often do not drink enough water, dehydration may be another culprit in their headaches, he said. A third possible cause is stress due to social pressures, such as teasing, bullying or being criticized, he said.

This study appears in the journal Headache.

Labels: childhood_obesity, headaches, studies

The American Heart Association reports that engaging in moderate to vigorous activity three to five times a week can have dramatic and positive effects on a person's overall health. To get children moving, parents should choose an activity that seems more like play than exercise - for example, jumping rope.

"The best way to get your kids to put down the video game controller and pick up the jump rope, according to Brian Dodge, jump rope coach and member of the Guam Skipjacks, is to keep it fun. 'I like to introduce them to the long rope with jump rope readiness games and making it fun by letting them jump to music,' he said."

Dodge started jumping rope five years ago as a way to help control his cholesterol levels. He quickly began coaching young people in the activity, and even started an annual Jump Rope Competition. He encourages anyone who's trying to get in shape or lose weight to try it. Source: Pacific Daily News (Guam)

Labels: activity, exercise, having_fun

Parents of overweight children worry more about their children being bullied than they do about their children being overweight, according to a new study from the University of Michigan.

The National Poll on Children's Health surveyed parents of children ages six to 13. Among all parents in the survey, childhood obesity ranked as the number one health concern. Among parents of overweight children, however, bullying ranked first. Parents of overweight children were twice as likely to be overweight themselves.

"In many families, obesity is a two-generation phenomenon," said Dr. Matthew M. Davis, director of the poll. "Since bullying is known to be a problem for children with increased weight, bullying prevention programs will need to be mindful of obesity."

About 66 percent of parents said they limit the amount of junk food and the time their children spend in front of computer and television screens.

Labels: bullies, bullying, peers

Researchers at the University of London have found that kids who don't eat breakfast are twice as likely to be overweight or obese as are their counterparts who regularly have a healthy morning meal. The study tracked the height and weight of about 15,000 five-year-olds and compared their weight with their eating habits.

"The study revealed that children who were obese were about twice as likely not to eat breakfast as children of normal weight. Researchers also found those with unemployed parents were almost three times as likely to go without breakfast as those whose mothers and fathers were both working."

Researchers speculated on reasons for the connection between breakfast and obesity, citing - among other possible factors - the likelihood that someone who skips breakfast will snack more and eat more sugary foods than someone who doesn't. They also theorized that the parents of children who skip breakfast may be less attentive to nutritional issues in general, and therefore may be more likely to provide less healthy food. Source: The London News

Labels: breakfast, eating-habits, lifestyle

Watching too much television leads to high blood pressure in obese children, according to a study from the University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Jeffrey Schwimmer and his colleagues studied 546 children (ages four to 13) who were enrolled in weight management clinics. Children who watched two to four hours of television a day were 2.5 times more likely to have high blood pressure, and obese children who watched that amount were three times more likely to have high blood pressure compared to those who watched two hours or less daily.

The American Pediatrics Association recommends that children watch no more than two hours of television a day.

This study appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Labels: blood_pressure, health_factors, TV

Low-income school children throughout the United States are sampling more fruits and vegetables thanks to a federal nutrition program. The program, initially tested in just two states, is now running in all 50.

"The program ... provided low-income students with fruits and vegetables during the school day, in addition to what they get at breakfast and lunch at school. [It] is aimed at getting kids to select healthier snacks..."

Under the federal program, students are also exposed to a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables to help them figure out what they like, and increase the chances that they'll ask for a papaya instead of potato chips the next time they want a snack. Source: Omaha World-Herald

Labels: low-income, nutrition, schools

A study conducted at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon, found that behavioral management can help obese children lose weight.

"Behavioral tactics include "setting goals, rewarding behaviors, planning ahead, setting up an environment for success, and planning what to do if you have a slip,' said [Dr. Evelyn] Whitlock, an investigator at the Portland research center."

Weight loss for the children who participated in the program ranged from three to 23 pounds, with higher weight loss found in kids who participated in more intense programs. These losses were maintained for up to a year after the program ended. Source: Columbian (WA)

Labels: behaviors, lifestyle, therapy

One in three high school cafeterias still sells junk foods, according to new data from the Center for Disease Control. However, this statistic represents progress. In 2004, 53 percent were selling candy and high fat, salty snacks; in 2006, the rate was 37 percent.

Dr. Howell Wechsler, director of the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health, said that schools are selling junk food because they need money. He admitted that food revenues drop during the first few years a school cafeteria substitutes healthy foods for the more popular but less nutritious ones. However, sales eventually climb, he said.

This study appears in the CDC Weekly Report on Morbidity and Mortality.

Labels: cafeterias, junk_food, schools