Exercise is not enough for sedentary workers
ScienceDaily    Share   
Good physical condition is a route to better health, and in order to improve it, exercising several days a week is recommended. Although it is possible to become healthier by exercising, long daily sedentary periods cause a health risk despite physical activity. Prior to this, it has not been clear how these two extremes in physical activity levels are connected. Does, for example, going to the gym reduce the time spent on sedentary activities, or should one also find something else to reduce it? Answers to these questions were sought in a newly published study by the University of Jyväskylä's Department of Biology of Physical Activity. More

Walking can offset the tendency to become obese
Los Angeles Times    Share   
A new study shows that people who are genetically prone to obesity can offset that influence by half by walking briskly one hour a day. The study, presented recently at an American Heart Association conference in San Diego, looked at more than 7,700 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study and more than 4,500 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up study. Researchers looked at the participants' activity levels, body mass index and their genetic predisposition to become obese (using a measure based on 32 genetic variants linked to obesity). More

American Association for Health Education

Massachusetts middle school recognized with National Nutrition Award
Milton Patch    Share   
Pierce Middle School in Massachusetts received one of the nation's highest school nutrition awards in a ceremony on March 26, putting it in the same company as just two percent of the 101,000 schools in the United States. The bronze medal from the USDA's HealthierUS School Challenge was given to the school by James Arena-DeRosa, the USDA's Northeast Regional Administrator, before an audience that included U.S. Sen. John Kerry and U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, as well as a host of state, local and school officials and the Pierce sixth grade class. More

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Student fitness improves with anti-obesity program
Reuters    Share   
Obesity rates continue to climb in California schools, but exercise and nutrition programs may be having a positive effect on student health, a new study suggests. Kids entered fifth grade more obese every year, but they did not gain more weight and their overall fitness improved as they moved to higher grades. "We accomplished a significant first step and that is to slow obesity," said Dr. William Bommer, a cardiologist at the University of California, Davis, who worked on the study. "But we importantly were not able to reverse it." More