Sep

25

Topic: Childhood Obesity News - Louisiana earns a D in active child study - Shreveport Times

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BATON ROUGE Louisiana children are perhaps the fourth most obese and overweight in the nation because they get little physical activity at home or in school, says a study released this week by LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center. The study Louisiana’s Report Card on Physical Activity and Health for Children and Youth will be the main topic of discussion today during a statewide childhood obesity and public health conference for health care professionals at the Baton Rouge center. Blacks are the most prone to obesity, the study shows, with about 38 percent of young blacks either overweight or obese the majority of which fall into the obese range. The report says the overall D grade indicates “insufficient appropriate physical activity opportunities and programs available to the majority of Louisiana’s children and youth. In previous studies, 46 percent of high school students report going to physical education classes five days a week; but drastic declines are reported from ninth grade to 12th grade (64 percent to 26 percent. Katzmarzyk said there is insufficient data on the overall physical and psychological well-being of students, government investments in fighting obesity, industry and philanthropic investments, family perception and roles regarding physical activity and community infrastructure, facilities and programs. Read Childhood Obesity

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