School activities don't help fat kids
BY ARTHUR MAX
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Wellbeing
The problem of overweight children won't be solved by piling on exercise in school, according to new research.
Youngsters who have a lot of physical activity during school hours tend to wilt when they get home. Children who have less action in school are more active after the final bell rings, says the study.
In the end, a child will expend the same amount of energy, whether in school or out, suggesting that his level of activity is set by some kind of internal meter in the brain, said the lead researcher, Terry Wilkin, professor of endocrinology and metabolism at Peninsula Medical School in the British city of Plymouth.
During humanity's evolution, "energy expenditure is a very precious commodity," Wilkin said. Energy output would be automatically controlled to maintain body mass, "because that would be a major pressure on the survival of the species," he said.
The research was conducted on 206 children aged 8-10 over two years beginning in 2003. It was presented to the European Congress on Obesity in the Dutch capital.
It is the latest round in a scientific battle between biologists and social scientists on what determines obesity, and the report was by no means going uncontested.
Tim Lobstein, director of childhood obesity program for the International Association for the Study of Obesity, said Wilkin's study was "an interesting phenomenon" worthy of further research, but does not tell the whole story. Nor does it cover a wide enough range of subjects to be conclusive, he said.
Lobstein said it was important to encourage physical activity at school so that children develop an affinity for it later on – "to set the thermostat, as it were, the activity-stat, at a high level."
He said he was concerned the report "will influence policymakers who are looking at squeezing the school curriculum."
Wilkin's team studied children in three Plymouth schools that had widely different activity levels, from a preparatory school for wealthy students that included more than nine hours a week of physical education, to an inner-city school with less than two hours of training per week. Prep school students had 40 per cent more activity during school hours, he said.
The subjects were monitored by an acclerometer, which he said recorded their movements 600 times a minute. Each child wore the device all day for one week during four consecutive school terms. In addition, blood samples and measurements of their weight and body mass were repeatedly taken. The data was adjusted for variable weather conditions and for socio-economic factors, he said.
The study was funded by Bright Future Trust, Child Growth Foundation, Nestle, Kirby Lang Foundation, London Law Trust, and the Early-Bird Diabetes Trust.
Alissa Fremeaux, a biostatistician at the Peninsula Medical School, who analysed the data, said in a paper prepared for the conference that the children showed a range of activity at school, "but the range and its average were the same regardless of what school they went to."
She added: "We discovered that the children who go a lot of PE (physical education) time at school were compensating by doing less at home, while those who got very little PE time compensated by cranking up their activity at home, so that over the week they all accumulated the same amount."
The conclusion, Wilkin said in an interview from Plymouth, was that "intervention with children. . . doesn't work." Children who are forced to do more activity will slip back to their old habits quickly, he said.
"That is absolutely characteristic of a biological control system," he said.
Lobstein, who is a trained psychologist, called the study "a snapshot" of children of that age, all sharing a British cultural background even if they came from different social classes. Different results might be obtained in different countries or at different times, he argued.
"I wouldn't say there is a genetic or natural construction here. I think it's very socially constructed," he said.
- AP
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Good fitness and health education should start at home by parents being good role models in healthy eating habits and displaying activeness. School then continues these habits by reinforcing healthy choices through education. Schools provide as many sporting activities to the students as possible so children can continue getting fit through sport and see that playing sport can be fun in and out of school. Children need to have fun to stay healthy and this can be achieved through team or individual sport irrespective of ones ability, physical shape or medical condition. The biggest thing is also, teachers need to give children positive fitness experiences so they can remain active throughout their adult life. Too many people judge others without understanding the history of the child and whanau and there may be a reason why they are a particular size. This is a parent, teacher and community problem so stop looking at an overweight child and lets all work together and do something about this 'child obesity' problem! Organise affordable sporting teams in your local community and bring back the Kiwi lifestyle which we are famous for!
mat: "too bad if they don't want to do it"
Forcing kids to take part in PE that they don't like just reenforces the child's negative associations with exercise.
There are a lot of ways to get exercise without any PE. Walking for instance. Walking half an hour a day is all the exercise you need.
As a child I was a fatty until I stopped doing PE but started walking to the bus stop - about 1.5km up a steep hill, then walking home in the afternoon. I didn't do any PE at school, or organized sports, and never ran, but I got skinny.
As soon as exercise was forced on me again (in the Army) I'd only exercise when forced to... and soon got pretty unfit again. Fair to say I went into the Army far fitter than when I came out!
Far better to engage kids through activities they enjoy: going on walks, to the beach, bike, tramping,...
The only thing that will help child obesity is the parents controlling what they eat and their life styles.
@ #3 Fraser
How ridiculous of you to think you can decide whether these researchers are "real scientists". Are you are "real scientist"? Perhaps you don't realise that this story is a journalist's interpretation of a scientific study. Journalists are not necessarily trained scientists and often interpret and report scientific studies incorrectly. I am sure these real scientists explored a number of potential conclusions and what is reported here is the conclusion that explained their data best.
A far as I know, the more active a child is the better it is for their health and well being, why should it matter if they are doing it at home or at school? The reason kids are, on average, fatter now than 20 years ago is because back then when they got home from school they all rode bikes, ran around, and played energetic games with other neighbour kids. They didn't have idle distractions as todays kids have such as X-boxes and the internet.
What a ridiculous study. Rich kids do less exercise at home and poor kids do more? This is not because they did more or less at school, but because they have iPods, the internet and their own bedrooms, whereas poor kids need activity but have no technology and cramped housing, so need to get out. At least, that's the obvious conclusion. If these people were real scientists performing science they would have dug a little deeper, not just jumped to the obvious conclusion.
so are they blaming the parents here ?? or the govt for making the parents too tired from working ?
"We discovered that the children who go a lot of PE (physical education) time at school were compensating by doing less at home, while those who got very little PE time compensated by cranking up their activity at home, so that over the week they all accumulated the same amount."
Even if this is true and the net result is the same and already active kids wont get any more, they dont need the extra so it doesnt matter. At least this will get non active children doing something along the way. Too bad if they don't want to do it. I dont want to be continously be paying my tax money to correcting obesity-related illnesses.
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Why should this be yet another social issue that schools must mop up?
Where is the parental responsibility? If you are prepared to do the deed that makes you into a parent then you should also be prepared to take on the responsibility of raising that child properly.
Schools should be focusing on education and should not just be the back stop for all the duties parents are not prepared to do. Schools should not have to be day care, health provider, social worker or sports coordinator.