Could reading a book be a possible treatment for childhood obesity? Duke University researchers say yes: the right kind of book can help kids lose weight. And that’s no fairy tale.
The Duke researchers asked overweight girls between ages nine to 13 who were already enrolled in a comprehensive weight loss program to read a novel called “Lake Rescue” (Beacon Street Girls), an age-appropriate book carefully crafted with the help of pediatric experts to include weight management tips, healthy lifestyle information, as well as strong role models and positive messages. The book is about a class trip to New Hampshire for an outdoor adventure. Will the physical challenges prove to be too much for one overweight seventh grade girl? “It was almost as if she was invisible which was odd, because Chelsea was so large.”
In a six-month follow-up, researchers found that the 31 girls who read “Lake Rescue” showed a significant decrease in their BMI (Body Mass Index) scores (-.71 percent), compared to a control group of 14 girls who hadn’t (+.05 percent). While the BMI decrease attributed to the book is small, it’s still encouraging, as the normal, healthy child’s BMI will usually increase as they grow and develop; an overweight child’s BMI increases even more rapidly.
Dr. Sarah Armstrong, director of Duke’s Healthy Lifestyles Program where the research was conducted, says that this is the first prospective interventional study that found that literature can have a positive impact on healthy lifestyle changes in young girls.
The idea that a book can positively influence weight loss and decrease BMI is a fairly easy idea to implement. It’s not difficult to extrapolate that other literature would also be able to help overweight teens, such as motivational and informative articles, quizzes, and digital media messages–the type that BodiMojo will offer. And, watching my 16-year-old son’s development, who has had a nose in a book since he could read (and no TV!), I’m of the very biased opinion that his superb moral, physical, spiritual, and emotional development is firmly linked to reading. And as an avid reader myself, whether it’s reading for weight loss or just plain pleasure, books are a win-win proposition.
– Contributed by Cindy Atoji, BodiMojo reader
2008 Health Flashback: Naughty and Nice News to End the Year — BodiMojo // Nov 11, 2009 at 11:05 pm
[...] Reading has multiple benefits—and, as we noted in an early BodiMojo posting, Duke University researchers say that the right type of novel might help kids lose weight. The idea [...]