When Parents Get Active, So Do Kids: Study

HealthDay – 5 mins ago THURSDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Parents who want to increase the amount of exercise their children get should become more active themselves, according to a new study.

"It has long been known that parent and child activity levels are correlated," study author Kristen Holm, an assistant professor of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver, said in a news release. "

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London 2012 breaks promise to get Britons active

Britons may be watching lots of Olympic athletes this summer but they sure aren't moving more themselves.

When London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics seven years ago, officials promised they would get 2 million more people physically active in time for the opening ceremonies.

But when the torch is lit July 27, the government will not only have failed, it will have backed away from its pledge entirely. Last year, the U.K. quietly dropped its aim to get 1 million more Britons into sports; the pledge to get another 1 million people more active through things like biking or walking to work has also been scrapped.

Britain's strategy was based largely on providing free school sports programs for children. While numbers grew in the first few years, they have since flat lined, according to national surveys. As the government cut spending amid Europe's debt crisis, it also slashed sports programs for adults, including free swimming for Londoners.

With a population of about 60 million, Britain is western Europe's fattest country. Soccer is wildly popular, but Britons are more likely to cheer on their favorite teams from the local pub rather than emulating them on the pitch.

Olympics secretary Jeremy Hunt said the government was looking for other ways to measure people's activity levels and insisted it was still working with local sports clubs to boost participation. A government spokesman called the original target "arbitrary."

"The Olympics do inspire people, but there is no evidence there are increased physical activity levels afterwards," said Bill Kohl, director of the physical activity epidemiology program at the University of Texas School of Public Health. "Most people realize they will never be (track star) Usain Bolt."

On Wednesday, Kohl authored a paper that labeled low levels of physical activity worldwide a "pandemic." It was published in the Lancet medical journal as part of a series on physical activity.

Another study concluded being a couch potato was as potentially lethal as smoking or being obese. Researchers estimated that a lack of physical activity causes about 1 in 10 deaths worldwide and is responsible for about 7 percent of type 2 diabetes cases and 10 percent of breast cancer and colon cancer cases.

"For the individual, it is certainly more dangerous to smoke than to be physically inactive," Kohl said. "But on a population level, the impact of physical inactivity is equal to smoking."

Critics have slammed London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe for his failure to deliver on organizers' physical activity pledge.

"We are way off target," said Mike Weed, director of the Centre for Sport, Physical Education and Activity Research at Canterbury Christ Church University. Based on current numbers, he said the promise to get 2 million more people active wouldn't happen until about 2035.

No host country of the Olympics has ever been able to convert enthusiasm for the games into a sporty population.

Weed said elite Olympians weren't the best role models for average Britons and cited a much less athletic example: chunky London mayor Boris Johnson, who has introduced a popular bike rental system in the British capital.

"If you see somebody in Lycra at the Olympics on a 10,000-pound ($15,600) bike, that says this is not for you," Weed said. "But if you see Boris Johnson in a suit riding along on an obviously unsporty bike, the message is that if he can do it, anyone can."

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Health Tip: Help Kids Have an Active Summer

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago (HealthDay News) -- It's summertime, and the living is easy for kids out of school. But parents should help their children stay active while the weather is hot.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics suggests how kids can enjoy a healthy summer vacation:

Encourage kids to visit with friends in person, instead of chatting with them on the phone.Shut down the computer and video games, and have the kids go outside for a game of tennis, a hike or rollerblading.Enroll the kids in a community sports league or sign them up to run or walk in a 5k.Volunteer the kids for a summer camp, clean-up effort, community garden or project to build homes.Have the kids babysit and take their charges for bike rides or to the park.

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Active, Outdoor Teens Are Happier Teens: Study

HealthDay – 1 hr 23 mins ago FRIDAY, June 22 (HealthDay News) -- Teens who engaged in more moderate-to-vigorous outdoor activity reported better health and social functioning than their peers who spent hours in front of television and computer screens, a new study in Australia has found.

The teens who had the highest perceived health in the study spent an average of 2.5 hours more per day playing sports or doing other high-intensity activity than their least-active counterparts, according to the researchers.

The research, done at the University of Sydney, found that youths in the study overall spent an average of 3.3 hours a day playing video games, watching television or doing other sedentary activities, compared with only 2.1 hours in physical activity.

The findings suggest that parents need to limit how much time their children spend using electronic media, the lead author said.

"Parents should be conscious of the fact that outdoor physical activity is beneficial to their child's overall health and well-being, and should try to limit the time their child spends in front of the screen," said Bamini Gopinath, a senior research fellow at the university's Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research.

Although no causal link was established, the study provides "another piece of evidence" that increasing physical activity and decreasing screen time "would be beneficial" to teens, said Gopinath, adding that "the impact of activity behaviors persists over the long term."

The study, published in the July issue of Pediatrics, was conducted from 2004 to 2009.

Study questionnaires asked how much time 1,216 teens spent on outdoor exercise compared to indoor activities including computer use for recreation and homework. Other sedentary activities such as reading were included. The data were collected at age 12, and again five years later. At that time, another group of 475 teenagers was recruited from the same schools in the Sydney area. Both groups responded to items about their health and general well-being.

The questionnaire included 23 items about the teens' health and physical functioning, as well as self-esteem, peer relationships and school.

Not surprisingly, more time spent reading and doing homework was associated with better school performance.

The more-active teens had significantly better scores relating to social functioning, or getting along with peers. Teens "who rarely exercised" were more likely to report "feelings of loneliness and shyness."

"Improved understanding of these relationships could help in developing interventions to promote general well-being among adolescents," the study authors concluded.

Another expert said he wasn't surprised by the findings.

"It makes sense that these kids who are getting outside, playing sports and running around are going to feel better than those kids who are sitting alone with a screen," said Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Boston Children's Hospital.

He cautioned against "over-interpreting" the results because other factors not looked at in the study "may have more influence." For example, he noted that the study did not show whether some teens avoided outdoor sports because they were less healthy to begin with.

But the findings are "worth paying attention to," Rich said.

It also makes sense that kids who spend their time "running around in the fresh air" and playing sports are going to be "not only physically healthier, but socially healthier because they're learning to work things through with other teens," he said.

The study gave "more objective data that supports what your mom always said, which is 'go outside and play,' proving mom was right," Rich added.

More information

To learn more about children and physical exercise, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Friend groups may encourage kids to be more active

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Active Pals Key to Kids' Exercise

PJ James' Extreme Weight LossMore Health HeadlinesBaby Saved by Smallest Artificial Heart'Idol' Winner to Get Kidney Surgery'Ridiculously Photogenic Surgery Girl' Goes...Hospitalized Man Learns He's IntersexIn The NewsArthritisAllergiesDr. Richard BesserCold & Flu Home> HealthKids' Close Friends Influence How Active They AreBy SAMANTHA MEANEY, M.D., ABC News Medical UnitMay 28, 2012

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Key to More Active, Slimmer Kids: Friends

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