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No joke. Children who were given weighted blocks to play with used more calories and had higher heart and respiration rates than they did when they used ordinary blocks.  According to the researchers, "The benefits of physical activity to children are substantial, but the amount of time spent in physical activity decreases as children age."

They suggest that one solution might be to make some tasks more physically demanding. "A subtle way to do so would be to slightly change the task requirements of already common activities performed either during play or instructional situations" (Nagourney, 2006).

In this study five boys and five girls, ages 7 and 8, took part in sessions in which they were asked to carry blocks across a room and stack them no more than two high for more than 10 minutes. In one session, the blocks were hollow cardboard; in the other, the blocks had small steel blocks glued inside that brought their weight to three pounds.

The researchers, Professor John Ozmun and graduate student Lee Robbins, of Indiana State University, suggest that weighted toys might help keep children a bit fitter, and be particularly useful for children with disabilities in which muscle weakness is a problem.

A brief summary of this study, presented at a recent conference of the American College of Sports Medicine, is at the New York Times. You must register with them for FREE to view this article.


Contributed by Michael Kalinowski

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