Fit Teens May Be Safer Teens
The key to keeping kids on the straight and narrow may lie in keeping them physically fit and away from the TV.
A new study finds that teens who take part in many different kinds of physical activity — particularly with their parents — are less likely to get involved in drinking, drugs, violence, smoking, sex, and delinquency than teens who spend a lot of time in front of the television.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reported the findings in the April issue of the journal Pediatrics.
The researchers looked at seven different “clusters” of teens. These clusters were defined by physical or “couch potato” activities frequently engaged in by teens. Examples of clusters include:
- Teens who often played sports with their parents and who also spent a lot of time playing sports overall;
- Skaters/gamers — teens who did a lot of skateboarding, bicycling, and playing video games;
- High TV/video viewers, who made their own decisions about TV viewing and watched a lot of TV;
- Teens who often used recreation centers;
- Teens who often took part in school activities, including sports and clubs.
The researchers found that kids who focused on fitness and activity were less likely to take up drinking, illicit drug use, violent behavior, sex and delinquency.
From MedicineNet and The Health and Fitness Show
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[…] A shift in lifestyle lead to a big jump in childhood obesity, which has reached 20%. Although the caloric intake of young adults and teenagers has risen only 1% in the past two decades, physical activity has declined 13%, an analysis of federal statistics by the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill found in February 2005. […]