Sweden to prescribe exercise to battle youth obesity
School nurses in Uppsala in eastern Sweden will soon begin prescribing children exercise in order to combat increasing obesity among teenage boys.
More and more Uppsala-area teenagers are overweight, the Upsala Nya Tidning (UNT) reports.
The situation is most serious for boys in their second year of high school, 23 percent of whom are obese.
In order to counter the development, school nurses plan to start prescribing physical activity to young people during their yearly health consultations.
The prescribed exercise can range from participation in a sport to going for walks several times a week.
In order to make it easier for the teens to carry out their prescribed exercise, slots will be reserved for them at local gyms.
“We want to change their habits. To get sedentary students going, get them to starting moving around and living healthier,” school physician Arely Rivero Ziaz told the newspaper.
The project, which will last three years and be carried out at a few of the city’s primary and high schools, stems from a cooperative effort between Uppsala’s primary healthcare authorities, the local athletic association, and the child obesity section at the Uppsala University Hospital.
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More and more Uppsala-area teenagers are overweight, the Upsala Nya Tidning (UNT) reports.
The situation is most serious for boys in their second year of high school, 23 percent of whom are obese.
In order to counter the development, school nurses plan to start prescribing physical activity to young people during their yearly health consultations.
The prescribed exercise can range from participation in a sport to going for walks several times a week.
In order to make it easier for the teens to carry out their prescribed exercise, slots will be reserved for them at local gyms.
“We want to change their habits. To get sedentary students going, get them to starting moving around and living healthier,” school physician Arely Rivero Ziaz told the newspaper.
The project, which will last three years and be carried out at a few of the city’s primary and high schools, stems from a cooperative effort between Uppsala’s primary healthcare authorities, the local athletic association, and the child obesity section at the Uppsala University Hospital.
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