Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Concussions affect females as much as males

Head trauma in the NFL and other collision sports has received a lot of press; female athlete concussions are on the rise. Check out the rest of the story.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Does your kid have a sweet tooth?

he or she may be in a growth spurt. Read more....

Many U.S. middle school kids physically unfit: study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - U.S. kids are not only too heavy; they're also out of shape, according to a new study of 5th and 7th grade students in Georgia.

Half didn't reach minimum standards for healthy aerobic fitness, Dr. Kenneth E. Powell, a physician in private practice, and his colleagues found, while nearly a quarter didn't make the grade in terms of muscle fitness, endurance or flexibility.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

kids: longer bouts of activity better for obesity prevention

(Newswise) - Several bursts of exercise that last five minutes or more might be better for preventing childhood obesity than are intermittent physical activity sessions lasting four minutes or less throughout the day.

That is the key message from a four-year study that researchers at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada conducted. The findings appear in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

“If two children accumulated 60 minutes of daily physical activity, the child who accumulated more activity in bouts is less likely to be obese than the one who accumulated more of their activity in a sporadic manner,” said Ian Janssen, Ph.D., lead study author.

U.S. guidelines recommend that school-aged children participate in 60 minutes of daily physical activity, but those guidelines are open to interpretation. Janssen said there are no stipulations as to how to accumulate the 60-minutes each day.

He added, “If parents, teachers and policy makers believe kids are getting 60 minutes of continuous physical activity in a one-hour physical education class or activities like basketball practice, they are way off base. Children are often inactive during these periods.”