Lack of Exercise Found To
Lead To Obesity In Kids
(April 09,
2004, Medindia Health News)
Lack of physical activity
found to be the most significant factor in contributing to childhood
obesity. Researchers assessed
the exercise and eating habits of nearly 900 children who were either at
risk of becoming overweight or were already
considered overweight. They also documented how often the children watched
television.
Results of the study show a lack of vigorous physical activity is the main
contributor to obesity for adolescents between 11
and 15 years old. Researchers found children in the normal-weight group
participated in two to four more minutes of vigorous
physical activity per day than those in the at-risk and overweight group.
Researchers also found that fiber intake, and not
fat calories, was more closely related to a child’s weight. Normal-weight
children consistently reported consuming more fiber
than at-risk and overweight children did. Also, researchers found overweight
boys reported watching more minutes of
television than normal weight boys.
Thus researchers conclude that insufficient physical activity and too much
time spent on sedentary behaviors like computer
games and watching TV may equal, and even exceed, diet quality as important
contributors to overweight in adolescence.