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Physical Education Will Help Kids Get In Shape |
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Written by Craig - GKA Staff
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Wednesday, 19 January 2005 |
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Studies find an added hour of gym weekly could cut number of overweight kids. One more hour a week of physical education for children aged 3-6 could translate into a 10 percent decrease in the number of overweight 5 and 6 year old girls worldwide.
A total of five hours per week of physical education, which is close to the recommended level, for those students, could cut the number of overweight girls by 43 percent. It could also reduce by 60 percent the number of girls in those age groups at risk for being overweight.
It is believed that increasing physical education will have no significant impact on boys in kindergarten and primary school. Researchers said this may be because boys are generally more physically active than girls early in life.
The worldwide study found that just 16 percent of kindergarten students received daily physical education instruction, and 13 percent received physical education less than once a week or not at all.
The median level of physical education was 35 minutes per week for kindergarten students and 68 minutes per week for students in their first year at primary school.
Physical education often gets cut when education budgets are tight; although it has a potentially important role in the battle against obesity.
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