Unrestricted Kids Are More Active: Study

Kids who are allowed to visit friends and go shopping on their own are more active, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Bristol tracked the movements of 1,307 children using GPS technology.

Canadian Kids' Physical Activity Levels Being Hurt by Excessive Television Time
A majority of kids have been spending more time in front of televisions and computer screens rather than being physically active, according to a new study conducted on Canadian children.

They also asked the pupils, aged ten and 11 from 23 schools, to complete a questionnaire about how much freedom they were given to travel outside the home unsupervised by their parents.

Participants said they were never, sometimes, often or always allowed to go to local shops, a big shopping centre, park or playground, sports centre, swimming pool, library, school, cinema, friend's house, amusement arcade, bus stop or train station.

The researchers found that both boys and girls given greater freedoms were much more active on weekdays than those closely watched by adults.

Keep Kids Active in the Holidays
Dr Yong also encouraged parents to sign their children up to after-school and community sport groups, to keep them active through the coming year

"This is the first study to show that freedom to move around unsupervised in the local and wider neighbourhood is directly related to how physically active children are," the Scotsman quoted Dr Ashley Cooper, senior investigator on the study, as saying.

"These findings suggest that giving children more independence to move outside is related to greater levels of physical activity, which is important for health.

Too Much Television During Holidays Bad for Kids
Kids are glued to the television sets during holidays and this is fraught with health risks, says a new study.

"But we also know that parents restrict how much independence they give their children for very good safety reasons.

"More work now needs to be done so we can discover how to get that balance right," Cooper added.

Most Brit Parents Concerned About Kids' Videogame Content
More than 75 percent of British parents are concerned about the content of video games their kids play, a new survey has found.

The study was published in the International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity.

Source-ANI
SRM