Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Just 1 in 4 young teens meet US fitness guidelines

The AP reports:
Young teens aren't exactly embracing the government's Let's Move mantra, the latest fitness data suggest.

Only 1 in 4 U.S. kids aged 12 to 15 meet the recommendations — an hour or more of moderate to vigorous activity every day.

The results are based on about 800 kids who self-reported their activity levels and had physical exams as part of the 2012 National Youth Fitness Survey.

Government researchers won't call the results disappointing, but lead author Tala Fakhouri of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, "There's always room for improvement."

The CDC released partial results Wednesday from the fitness survey, which involved kids aged 3 to 15. Other results from the same survey are pending and include fitness data based on more objective measures including treadmill tests.