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15-minute spurts of activity can keep kids from becoming obese
Reuters (March 20, 2007) reports that according to British and U.S. researchers, just 15 minutes a day of kicking around a ball or swimming might be enough to keep children from becoming obese. A study of 5,500 children who agreed to wear a motion sensor device showed that those who exercised more were less likely to be obese and that short bursts of intense activity seemed to be the most helpful. Children who did 15 minutes a day of moderate exercise - equivalent to a brisk walk - were 50 percent less likely than inactive children to be obese, the researchers reported in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine. The team studied 5,500 children, with an average age of 12, who with their mothers have been taking part in a larger, long-term study of health. The children agreed to wear a device called an accelerometer, which measures total activity, and they had X-ray scans for body fat. The researchers rated the children with the top 10 percent levels of fat mass as obese.
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