Study: School programs can cut childhood obesity

A new study from Canada shows that teaching kids to exercise at a young age in school can help lower their chances of becoming overweight or obese. If your child's school doesn't have a physical activity program you may want to start a petition to change that...

From the Toronto Star:

Catch kids at a young age and you can change their eating and exercise habits, a new study says.

Grade 5 students in schools with a program that promotes both physical activity and healthy eating were less than half as likely to be overweight or obese as those in schools offering only healthy food choices or nothing at all, according to the study released today in the American Journal of Public Health.

"This research points to evidence that establishing healthy behaviours at a young age is possible, and schools can play an important role in reducing childhood obesity and promoting healthy living," said Dr. Paul Veugelers, a professor of public health sciences at the University of Alberta and the study's lead author.

The study by the Canadian Institute for Health Information is one of the first to evaluate the effectiveness of nutrition and healthy living programs in schools, at a time when childhood overweight and obesity rates are two to three times what they were 15 years ago.

It looked at 5,200 Grade 5 students in nearly 300 Nova Scotia schools and found only four per cent of those in a comprehensive healthy living program were obese, compared to 10 per cent in schools without such a program.

The children in the comprehensive program also ate more fruits and vegetables, had better overall diets and were more likely to be physically active than their counterparts.

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