Slugs in training

Posted at 4:03 PM on July 15, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Health

Our stop-the-presses scientific study of the day comes from the University of California San Diego. When kids hit the teen years, they become sluggish, and don't get much exercise.

It's reported by the Associated Press:

The latest study, appearing in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, tracked about 1,000 U.S. children at various ages, from 2000 until 2006.

Special gadgets were used to record their activity. Average levels of moderate-to-vigorous activity fell from three hours a day at age 9 to less than an hour at age 15.

(Dr. Phillip) Nader said he was "surprised by how dramatic the decline was,"and cited schools dropping recess and gym classes and kids' increasing use of video games and computers as possible reasons.

As usual, video games, DVDs and Internet use get the blame.

Boys were more active than girls at every age. But by age 15, even boys' average activity levels fell short of recommendations, particularly on weekends, the study said.

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