Study Casts Doubts on Ability of Gym Classes to Impact Obesity Rates
By Hugh C. McBride
Contrary to what many gym class advocates might expect, researchers in British Columbia have found that increasing the amount of time children spent in physical education classes had no effect on obesity rates among participants.
According to a June 25, 2008, report by the Canwest News Service, analysts who reviewed 13 trials involving more than 10,000 students found no significant difference in body mass index between students who spent the most time in physical education classes and those who were given the fewest opportunities to hit the gym.
"School-based physical activity interventions do not improve BMI, although they may have other beneficial health effects," Dr. Kevin Harris of B.C. Children's Hospital, one of the study's coordinators, told CNS reporter Pamela Fayerman. However, Harris noted, physical education classes have been associated with "improvements to bone mineral density, aerobic capacity, reduced blood pressure and increased flexibility."
After decades of steady increases, childhood obesity rates recently leveled off at about 30 percent - a rate that pediatricians and other health care experts predict may lead to shortened life expectancies for today's youth.
"It is possible that interventions that focus on improving the diet of children may have more significant effect on body composition," Harris told CNS. "[But] phys-ed shouldn't be looked at as a central component of any obesity strategy."
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