Extra time in gym class does not appear to do anything to reduce child obesity. So, what can you do to help an overweight child? Or yourself, for that matter, if this is a concern for you?
This news from the Canadian Pediatric Society conference held in Victoria, British Columbia, at first glance may seem surprising. Exercise helps one lose weight, right? Well according to this analysis of studies of school activity interventions done on 10,000 children in BC comparing Body Mass Index (BMI) before and after the intervention, there was no change in BMI, even in the studies where the activity interventions lasted three years. The studies analysis did show improvements in health measures like blood pressure, bone density, aerobic fitness and range of motion, but none of the studies showed a drop in bodyweight. This follows on the heels of another study done on 900 teens in grades 10 to 12 in the Vancouver area studied by researchers at University of British Columbia and McGill University in Montreal, who found "... there appeared to be no link between body mass index (BMI) values and levels of physical activity"
Body Mass Index is a simple measure used to compare one's height to one's weight (Weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared). A healthy BMI is considered to be between 18.5 and 25, overweight between 25 and 30, and obese, over 30. This measure is frequently used in studies, and is well understood by health professionals. I personally don't like using BMI, because I think the number can be very misleading. For example, very muscular male can weigh a great deal (muscles weighs more than fat), and still be very lean, but may have a BMI over 30. I find waist/hip ratio or even simply a waist measurement to be far more useful for before and after measurements.
The study results are a blow to those who are advocating for daily quality physical education in the schools, as it may be harder to convince officials to take children away from reading, writing and arithmetic if physical activity does nothing to stem the obesity tide. I hope those officials see the big picture, however. I think the goals of a physical education program should be to help children learn to love moving their bodies, so that they continue to do so when they are adults. And the health benefits of reduced blood pressure, increased bone density, improved aerobic capacity, improved range of motion about joints, not to mention improved mental concentration are worth the time spent on daily physical education. There is no question about the increased health benefits gained from better physical fitness.
So, if your child is overweight (and if you or someone you know is overweight), what are some strategies that may work?
If you want to learn how and what to feed your children from infancy through the teenage years, I cannot recommend highly enough this article called "Feeding our Children". Children fed this way will be healthy, vibrant, and will learn and appreciate how to nourish themselves as adults.
Please do keep the comments coming on my blog. If you want to search for other posts by title or by topic, go to www.wellnesstips.ca.
Related tips
Obesity - a behavioural or a metabolic problem?
How we become over-fat
Insulin, our storage hormone
Is going to bed too late making you fat?
Television watching is a health risk
Want fat loss? Aerobic exercise alone is not the answer
Bacteria, the soil, the gut and detoxification
Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Phys-ed won't cut child obesity, study says Pamela Fayerman, Vancouver Sun, Published: Thursday, June 26, 2008.
McGill University Physical activity, healthy eating and BMI not linked in older teens: Results from under-researched 15- to 18-year-old group challenge established assumptions Apr. 30, 2008.
Cowan, Thomas Dr. Feeding our Children Four Fold Healing. Holistic Family Medicine.
Formby and Wiley; Lights Out! Sugar, Sleep and Survival Pocket Books, New York, NY, 2000.
Taubes, Gary Good Calories, Bad Calories, Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2007.
Price, Weston A. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration Price-Pottenger Foundation, La Mesa, CA, 2000.
Lumeng J. et al. TelevisionExposure and Overweight Risk in Preschoolers Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006;160:417-422.
Taheri S.The link between short sleep duration and obesity: we should recommend more sleep to prevent obesity Archives of Disease in Childhood 2006; 91:881-884;
Tremblay A, et al. Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism Metabolism 1994 July;43(7):814-8.
Yoshioka M. et al. Impact of high-intensity exercise on energy expenditure, lipid oxidation and body fatness Int. Journal of Obesity Related Metabolic Disorders 2001 Mar;25(3):332-9
Geliebter A. et al. Effects of strength or aerobic training on body composition, resting metabolic rate, and peak oxygen consumption in obese dieting subjects American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1997, Sept. 66(3):557-63.
Copyright 2008 Vreni Gurd
To subscribe go to www.wellnesstips.ca