Jun

29

The obesity battle goes on - Houston Chronicle- Topic: Childhood Obesity News

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Classes are out for children across the country, but the fight to boost fitness and curb fat among America’s youth doesn’t end with the school year, researchers and health advocates say. Groups ranging from the American Heart Association to the National Association for Sport & Physical Education succeeded in efforts in Florida and Oklahoma this year to increase the time children spend in physical education classes. About 9 million (or 16 percent) of children between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight under the standard used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention three times the percentage in 1980. A study of 5,380 kindergartners and first-graders published last year in the American Journal of Public Health found that students gained more weight during the summer than they did the rest of the year. Paul Houston, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, said shrinking school budgets and pressure to boost reading and math scores have reduced the class time available for PE programs. Read Childhood Obesity

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