EDINBURGH: An hour of playtime or physical exercise may help children use up some of their boundless energy but it will not reduce their obesity, research has indicated.
Researchers from Scotland's Glasgow University conducted a study to determine whether increasing children's physical activity could reduce their Body Mass Index (BMI). The 1yr-long study involving 545 pre-schoolers showed that it didn't. But it did improve their movement and motor skills thus boosting their confidence in performing physical activities. In turn, this increased activity helps establish a foundation for a healthier future.
The GU researchers' study has disproved an earlier study's recommendation and theory that small children need daily one hour of physical exercise to prevent obesity.
The Glasgow team named their study 'Movement & Activity Glasgow Intervention in Children' (MAGIC) with the prevention of childhood obesity as their objective. Half of the enrolled children were randomly selected for an active play programme involving three 30-minute sessions per week. The children's BMI were recorded at six month intervals and were found unaffected even after a year.
The BMI is considered a better indicator of whether or not a person is overweight by factoring the height and weight measurements.
The study's report published in the British Medical Journal concludes that the prevention of childhood obesity requires “changes not just at nursery, school and home but in the wider environment”.
The report is fair in accepting that the unchanged BMI readings may be because of “inadequate dose” of activity, it said, referring to the '30-min/three times a week' programme the team had recommended. A health official agreed with the view and said the readings would have been different at the end of the year if the children were given seven exercise classes a week, rather than three.
A researcher said the parents' involvement would have likely affected the children's weight.
From the study group, i.e. children given the exercise classes, 62 percent had a high BMI, meaning they were overweight. The control group had a similar percentage of overweight children.
British health authorities plan to tackle the childhood obesity challenge as the country ranks among those with the highest percentage of obese children. About twenty-five percent of children in the UK are obese. In Scotland alone, one in ten 4-5 year-old children is obese; and two in ten children in the 11-12yrs age group, are obese.
The government has urged schools to monitor children's weight and get the parents involved in improving their child's health with appropriate diet and active lifestyle. Starting next year, primary schools could record every child's weight at regular intervals and inform parents of those who are overweight of the health risks their child faces.
