NEWS EXERCISE UPDATE

Inactivity does not lead to obesity in kids

The long-term Early Bird study has challenged the assumption that a lack of exercise causes children to put on weight. One element of the 11 year old study of more than 200 children in Plymouth suggests the effect is the other way around - that getting fatter makes them inactive. The researchers examined the children annually from aged 7-10 years using accelerometers for seven consecutive days at each annual time point.

The authors emphasise they are not arguing with the benefits of exercise for children but are questioning exercise’s value as a way of tackling obesity. As a result the authors suggest that programmes to tackle obesity may need to focus more on food than exercise. Archives of Disease of Childhood 2010;doi:10.1136/ adc.2009.175927 Published online first 23 June 2010 http://bit.ly/bu41h2

Too much TV is bad for the heart

Watching too much TV pushes up the risk of dieing from heart disease by 7% and the risk is independent of physical activity. The authors conclude that their findings suggest that public health recommendations should consider advising a reduction in TV time, in

addition to advocating physical activity. The study examined data from the EPIC Norfolk population based cohort of 13,197 men and women. International Journal of Epidemiology 2010 published online first 23 June http://bit.ly/bt97dd

Exercise benefit for cancer patients

Breast and prostate cancer patients who regularly exercise during and after cancer treatment report having a better qualify of life and being less fatigued, according to researchers. To study how exercise impacts cancer patients, Dr Eleanor Walker and her colleagues at Henry Ford’s Josephine Ford Cancer Center and the Henry Ford Heart & Vascular Institute developed a unique programme called ExCITE (Exercise and Cancer Integrative Therapies and Education). This works with patients who are receiving cancer treatment to create individualised exercise programmes. http://bit.ly/ctryPd

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The REPs Journal 2010;18(Sept):10-11