Parents need to pay attention to what their kids are doing after school. Sallis added that it was surprising that enjoying gym class was so important. This is important information for educators' curriculum planning and teacher training. Many PE classes are structured so that kids have to wait their turn for the activity, minimizing the amount of actual activity and leading to boredom. Physical activities need to be available after school, whether they are sponsored by schools, community centers or parks and recreation agencies.
Exercise counteracts weight gain even in women with a genetic predisposition to overweight.
Dr. Campbell and her team studied 485 pairs of middle-aged female identical and fraternal twins. They investigated the impact of lifestyle factors such as exercise, diet and smoking on body fat levels, separate from genetic and environmental factors. Even when a woman had an overweight twin sister, the exercising woman weighted approximately 9 pounds less. Leisure Exercise is Better Prevention Physical activity for fun, but not during work, helps prevent diseases associated with insulin resistance, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, breast cancer and colon cancer. Insulin resistance occurs when cells become less sensitive to the effects of the hormone, insulin.