Childhood Obesity - Do you have an overweight child? We offer tips to help your child lose weight and get fit!

As students across the nation either prepare to return to school or have already begun classes, it may come as a surprise to many parents that very few American children have daily physical education classes.

This lack of regular phys. ed. opportunities was documented in a recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• The study found that only 4 percent of elementary schools, 8 percent of middle schools and 2 percent of high schools have daily physical education.
• Only two states, Illinois and Massachusetts, require such classes every day for kindergarteners through 12th graders.
• The study found that children in Illinois and Massachusetts the same rates of obesity and overweight as children everywhere else in the United States, even though they exercise daily.

"I'm all for holding schools to high standards with regard to academic outcomes," said Russell Pate, vice president of Health Studies at the University of South Carolina. "But we need to have balance, and we need all schools to be healthy places for children."

Labels: schools, physical_activity, physical_education

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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, physical_activity, grades

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The premise 'sound body, sound mind' is behind new Texas legislation that will require physical activity and assessment tests for all Texas middle school students.

"Specifically, the measure mandates 30 minutes of daily physical activity in at least four semesters during middle school, grades six through eight. It also requires that schools begin giving aerobic, abdominal, flexibility and upper body tests to students in grades three through twelve."

If the bill is signed by the governor, the assessments will start this fall. High school students are already required to have 1.5 credits of physical education. The new legislation for middle school students won't take effect until the 2008-09 school year. Read more online.

Labels: schools, exercise, physical_activity

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Children who are poorly coordinated are three times more likely to be overweight, according to a new study from Canada.

"Developmental coordination disorder" involves problems with both fine and gross motor skills and affects 5% of all children. These children have difficulty with sports, personal care, and handwriting.

Dr. John Cairney, author of the study, said that the disorder is often considered "a playground disorder that can be relegated to a secondary position in the universe of children's health concerns. These results, along with other recent research, suggests that this is no longer acceptable."

This study appeared in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
 

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, physical_activity

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Yet another reason to encourage children to exercise: Middle school students perform better on mental tasks if they are physically fit, according to a new study from the University of Illinois. The children who were in good physical shape had enlarged hippocampi. The hippocampus is an area of the brain associated with better spatial reasoning and cognition.

• Professor Art Kramer and his colleagues used magnetic resonance imaging devices (MRIs) to watch brain images of 49 children ages nine and ten years old.
• The researchers focused on the size of the hippocampus, and found that those of physically fit children were 12% larger.
• This group of children performed better on tests that measured their ability to remember and to integrate information.

Dr. Kramer said that these findings suggest that interventions to increase children's physical activity could have an important effect on their brain development.

"If you get lousy genes from your parents, you really cannot fix that, and it's not easy to do something about your economic status," he said. "But here's something we can do something about."

The study appears in the journal Brain Research.

Labels: brain_activity, exercise, physical_activity

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