ISU study finds intervention program helps kids eat healthier, reduce screen time

A new Iowa State University study found that a family, school and community intervention program helps children live healthier lives and could be a new tool in the fight against the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic.

In the study, children who participated in The Switch® program — a program developed by the Minneapolis-based National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) — watched an average of two fewer hours of television and also consumed two more servings of fruits and vegetables per week than those who weren’t in the program. Program participants also walked 300 more steps per day.

“The successes in this study were modest, which is what one would expect,” said Iowa State Assistant Professor of Psychology Douglas Gentile, the lead researcher and director of research for NIMF. “People usually make incremental changes, but those add up over time.”

Read full story via NIowa State University

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Posted by admin on Sep 26 2009. Filed under Family Health, Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry