Dr. Aaron Carrel of the University of Wisconsin Children’s Hospital in Madison built a 45 minute program around losing body fat and improving cardiovascular fitness.
Carrel and his team worked with teachers and staff at a local school to develop the fitness program. To increase the amount of time spent in action during the class, children did not change clothes, and began warm-up immediately. Kids were active for 42 of the 45 classroom minutes. Activities included lifestyle-focused activities like bicycling and walking. Classes were small, with 12 to 14 kids each.
The researchers divided 55 overweight kids into two groups, with one participating in traditional gym class and the other in the new class. In the regular gym class, which included 35 to 40 students, Carrel and his team note, kids spent only about 25 minutes on the move.
At the end of the study, students in the new class lost about twice as much bodyfat as those int he traditional class.
