Get your kids moving!!!

This press release continues to reinforce the value of exercise in the prevention of childhood obesity. I personally believe that exercise is even more important and certainly easier to understand for kids than nutrition in helping kids get to or stay at a healthy weight. So if you have kids, do everything that you can do make sure that they get at least an hour of exercise each day and limit 'screen time' (television, computers) to 2 hours a day if possible!!

MONDAY, April 5 (HealthDay News) -- Does carrying a gene tied to obesity doom a teenager to becoming obese? Not if that teen stays physically active, a new study shows.

Among genes related to obesity, mutations in the so-called fat mass-and-obesity-associated gene (FTO) appear to be particularly important. In fact, each copy of a mutation in this gene has been tied to an average jump in weight of about 3.3 pounds, the researchers say.

However, an hour of physical activity a day largely negated the gene's effect, the new study found.

"These findings have important public health implications, and indicate that meeting the physical activity recommendations may offset the genetic predisposition to obesity associated with the FTO [gene variant] in adolescents," said lead researcher Jonatan R. Ruiz, a scientist in physical activity and fitness epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute in Huddinge, Sweden.

The report is published in the April issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.