Increasing the number of physical education classes may not be the solution to the infant obesity problem

Sep 4, 2006 09:19 GMT  ·  By

A recent study led by scientists at the Cornell University showed that increasing the number of physical education (PE) classes in school may not have the expected result. Namely, assisting to more PE classes does not necessarily guarantee that pupils and students will make more physical activity.

John Cawley from the Cornell University pointed out: "Higher state PE requirements have no impact on weight or the probability of being overweight for either boys or girls. Higher PE requirements are associated with more days with vigorous exercise for girls, but also with fewer days with light physical activity. This may be due to girls reducing physical activity out of school when compelled to take more PE at school. The data suggest this is most common among girls who are less active in the first place. Public health officials and educators should consider ways to reduce or eliminate such offsetting behavior."

Taking into account the alarming rates of obesity which continue to increase worldwide, UK officials have started to consider applying various methods in order to prevent disastrous outcomes of the morbid obesity epidemic. Especially after the British Government has recently warned that in 4 years time, meaning until 2010, one third of the UK population are going to suffer from obesity. This is an extremely serious problem, noted UK officials, and an effective solution should be found as soon as possible.

The Government pointed out that the main factor which triggers obesity relates to the fast-food products and giving up on healthy, vegetarian diets. Also, leading a sedentary lifestyle is a key-factor in obesity. Worries increase because, besides the emotional disorders deriving from obesity condition, there are also the severe diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer or diabetes.

"Tackling obesity is a government-wide priority. But every individual has responsibility for their own health. There are simple changes people can make that will have a direct impact on their health. Our public health agenda is the first concerted attempt to seriously tackle rising levels of obesity. Huge progress has been made already in starting to change attitudes through the Five-A-Day campaign, the school fruit scheme, and more investment in school food," stated a spokesman for the Government's Department of Health.

Officials also decided to appoint a Minister for Fitness to struggle to reduce obesity in population by promoting physical activity and encouraging people to exercise more - from simple, everyday activities such as walking, swimming etc. to going to the gym. The physical activity should become part of everyone's daily routine, whether they are overweight or not.

The task for developing a new fitness strategy in the UK was given to Public Minister for Health, Ms. Caroline Flint. She stated for BBC Radio 4 Today:

"I have been given the role of looking across government departments as to how we can better look at the policies we have and how we spend our money to enable people to improve their health. What is important is that people do recognize that there are some pretty small changes that they can make in their lifestyle in terms of physical activity that can start making a big difference to their health. And I think that that is important, because a lot of people think that they have to go to the gym five times a week and if they can't do that, they can't do anything - and that is just not true."