More physical activity improved school performance

October 31, 2014

Just two hours of extra physical activity each week can improve school performance. This has been shown by a study of approximately 2,000 12-year-olds carried out by scientists at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg [in Sweden]. Researchers Lina Bunketorp...

The cheap, colorful way cities are trying to fight childhood obesity

August 11, 2014

By Aarian Marshall The United States has a well-known childhood obesity problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one third of the nation's children and adolescents were overweight or obese in 2012. The percentage...

New resources from Bridging the Gap and CDC highlight local school wellness policies

July 2, 2014

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Bridging the Gap program, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recently released a new set of resources highlighting opportunities to support wellness policies through evidence-based strategies. These briefs provide an...

School gardens grow kids’ physical activity levels

April 18, 2014

By Ted Boscia To get school children moving, uproot them from classrooms into school gardens, concludes a two-year Cornell study of 12 elementary schools in five New York regions. By experiment’s end, kids at schools with gardens were moderately physically...

Rich or poor, schools fall short on providing physical activity

March 3, 2014

By Milly Dawson Schools in wealthier areas are more likely to have a physical education (PE) teacher on staff than are schools in poorer areas, but students in both wealthy and less affluent areas are coming up short with regard...

Food options near schools may up obesity risk

December 2, 2013

By Rita Buckley The number and kinds of food outlets near schools may be associated with higher rates of obesity among public school students, according to new research. Data for nearly 13,000 middle and high school students in 33 public...

Equipment, encouragement gets kids active during recess

November 20, 2013

By Allison Bond Providing children with sports equipment, encouragement, and a safe environment boosts their activity level during the school day, according to a recent study from Australia. Researchers found that simple steps such as making sure elementary school students...

If you offer it, they will drink it

May 23, 2013

It's no secret that drinking too much Coke or Gatorade can add inches to kids' waistlines. But where they get those drinks might make a difference in how much they drink them. A recent study found that children were much...

Gym class isn’t just fun and games anymore

February 25, 2013

By Montoko Rich On a recent afternoon, the third-graders in Sharon Patelsky’s class reviewed words like “acronym,” “clockwise,” and “descending,” as well as math concepts like greater than, less than, and place values. During gym class. Ms. Patelsky, the physical...