A study that was published in the July 16, 2008, edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that though 90 percent of 9-year-olds get an average two hours of physical activity a day, less than 3 percent of 15-year-olds are that active. Researchers who participated in the study monitored the physical activity of 1,000 children from 2000 to 2006.

"The study suggests that fewer than a third of [15-year-olds] get even the minimum recommended by the government - an hour of moderate-to-vigorous exercise..."

Lead author Philip Nader says people don't recognize this for the crisis it is, citing the drop in activity as one of the primary contributors to childhood obesity. Source: Clarion Ledger (Mississippi)

Labels: activity, exercise, teenagers

Nine year-old children are active for more than three hours a day - but by age fifteen, individual activity levels drop to less than 45 minutes per day, according to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers found that only a third of teenagers got the recommended minimum one hour a day of aerobic exercise, and that age 13 was the year that activity levels dropped off dramatically. Things got worse on weekends, too, when activity decreased from 49 minutes a day to 30.

The scientists speculated that older teens tend to watch television or play videos with friends, rather than pursuing active games.

"I was surprised by the degree of the drop. It’s a dramatic shift," said Dr. James Griffin of the National Institute’s Center for Research for Mothers and Children. "Younger children appear to be naturally active, but as kids get older, they find fewer opportunities to be active."

The study, led by Dr. Philip Nader, a professor of pediatrics at University of California, San Diego, tracked over 1,000 American children from 2000 to 2006, providing them with devices that recorded their movement.

Labels: activity, exercise, teenagers

Anne M. Fletcher, M.S., R.D., author of Weight Loss Confidential worked with over 100 teenagers when she wrote Weight Loss Confidential. She "turned to schools, health clubs, weight programs, friends, relatives, and colleagues, all across the United States, even in other countries, to find formerly overweight teens who had lost weight in healthy ways." Once she found teens who lost weight, she had them answer an eight-page questionnaire to learn their weight loss story.

Read more about Weight Loss Confidential.

Labels: losing_weight, nutrition, teenagers

Anne M. Fletcher, M.S., R.D., author of three best selling weight loss books for adults talks about her latest book just for teenagers and their families. Fletcher wrote the book in response to her overweight son's experience at summer camp. Anne says, "That's when it occurred to me that a great model for a book would be "teens helping other teens" with weight management. My son lost more than 60 pounds when he was 18 and, when he'd kept it off for a few years, I decided it was time to write the book."

Read a full review of Weight Loss Confidential.

Labels: parents, summer_camp, teenagers