Get fit not fat - Short Stuff

Girls' Life, Dec, 2002

After school, do you. A) watch Buffy reruns, B) check your e-mail or c) ride your bike? If you answered A or B, you're among a growing trend of teen girls who don't get enough exercise. A study in The New England Journal of Medicine shows 56 percent of black girls and 31 percent of white girls get no regular physical activity by age 16 or 17.

And obesity rates in kids have doubled in the last 20 years! Some blame it on school systems that no longer mandate phys ed. Also, a report from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine finds kids odds of becoming obese double when they show signs of depression. This dismisses a previous belief that being overweight causes depression. This dismisses a previous belief that being overweight causes depression. What's a girl to do? Instead of being a couch slouch, shoot some hoops, go for a walk or shake it like Shakira!