Middle School Students Need More Physical Activity, Better Nutrition, To Stave Off Obesity

A U.S. study of data from 1,714 sixth grade boys and girls found that girls who drank at least two glasses of milk a day were less likely to be obese, as were boys who played on sports teams. Sixty-one percent of obese boys and 63 percent of obese girls reported watching television for two or more hours a day. Obese girls were more likely than any other group to use a computer, and obese boys reported playing video games more often than normal weight boys. The nutritional quality of school lunches was also cited as an obesity factor that needs further study.