Encouraging children and adolescents to be more active

doi:10.1136/bmj.39345.679514.80

BMJ 2007;335:677-678 (6 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.39345.679514.80

Editorials

Encouraging children and adolescents to be more active

Well evaluated complex interventions are still needed

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Physically active children and adolescents are at reduced riskof developing risk factors for cardiovascular disease,¹ andthey are likely to have enhanced mental and emotional wellbeing.²However, as with other developed countries, in the United Kingdom,three out of 10 boys and four out of 10 girls are estimatednot to take the recommended 60 minutes each day of moderateto vigorous intensity physical activity.³ This is important,because in 2003, 28% of children in the UK were estimated tobe overweight or obese.⁴

In this week's BMJ, Van Sluijs and colleagues report a systematicreview of interventions to promote physical activity in childrenand adolescents.⁵ The review found weak or inconclusive evidencefor the effectiveness of strategies to promote children's physicalactivity. It confirmed lessons from tobacco control⁶—thatat least in adolescents the most effective interventions havemany components and are undertaken in multiple settings (school,. . . [Full text of this article]

Billie Giles-Corti, professor¹, Jo Salmon, senior research fellow²

¹ School of Population Health, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia 6009, ² Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia 3125

Billie.Giles-Corti@uwa.edu.au

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Effectiveness of interventions to promote physical activity in children and adolescents: systematic review of controlled trials: Esther M F van Sluijs, Alison M McMinn, and Simon J Griffin
BMJ 2007 335: 703. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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