Preventing Childhood Obesity

Sustained Physical Activity Better for Preventing Obesity in Kids
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/549769/?sc=dwhn

Newswise reports research from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada showing that children who accumulated more activity in bouts (e.g., 5 minute segments) is less likely to be obese than children who accumulated more of their energy in a sporadic manner (e.g., 4 minutes and less). The research will be reported in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The real benefits of daily physical activity build the longer the activity is sustained. US guidelines recommend that school-age children participate in 60 minutes of daily activity. Families wanting their children to be active, need to be active themselves.

More Screen Time Means Lower Fitness

Small-screen recreation and fitness in youth is researched

http://www.newswise.com:80/articles/view/547102/?sc=dwhn NewWise reports research studying how TV, videogames, e-mail, text messaging and net surfing affects aerobic endurance in adolescents. Seems like two hours or more screen time is the cut point above which younger kids are significantly less likely to be fit. Older boys were less affected, no matter how long they spent on screen recreation. Research was conducted by Louise Hardy, Ph.D., University of Sydney, and was reported in the Am J Prev Med 36(2), 2009.