After-school Exercise Programs can Help Girls Maintain Weight
By Jane St. Clair
An after-school program designed specifically for middle school girls staved off weight gains of over two pounds a year, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Dr. Deborah Young of the University of Maryland School of Public Health and her colleagues set up programs in six different geographic areas with girl-friendly activities like dancing, swimming, walking, and even surfing. Among the findings of their study was that girls are more likely to participate after school than on evenings, weekends, or mornings.
Although preventing a weight gain of just two pounds per year seems small, Dr. Young said, "Given the rise of the obesity epidemic, any weight gain prevention on a population level is important. Two pounds per year adds up to twenty pounds in ten years - an amount that could significantly impact an adult's health status."
Dr. Young said that physical activity declines in both boys and girls throughout adolescence, but it declines at a greater rate in girls.
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