Activity Programs Fail to Activate Youngsters - East Idaho News
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Activity Programs Fail to Activate Youngsters

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Getty H 092812 KidsExcercising?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1348834251189iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Programs that try to get kids to move around are largely ineffective, according to a new British study.

Researchers at Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, Plymouth University, United Kingdom looked at 30 analyses of over 14,000 Americans youngsters participating in programs designed to increase activity.

The bottom line: the programs aren’t really motivating children, who only seem to be getting fatter not fitter.

Lead researcher Brad Metcalf says the problem seems to be that kids aren’t moving around much during extracurricular clubs and classes or after taking part in a program, they’ll try to do even less activity to compensate.

Mark Hamer, a researcher at University College London who wrote an editorial accompanying the study published in the medical journal BMJ, said, “We know physical activity is important. What we’re not good at is designing behavioral interventions that increase it.”

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