Washington Post: You Go, Girls! Read Your Way to Health

You Go, Girls! Read Your Way to Health

Wednesday, October 8, 2008; C14, Washinton Post

· How many calories can you burn reading a book?

Turns out it's a lot more than you might think if the book is "Lake Rescue," in the Beacon Street Girls series by Annie Bryant.

The book tells the story of an overweight seventh-grade girl who goes to an outdoor camp. She's worried she'll be picked on for being heavy, but instead she learns about exercise and eating right.

A study released this week divided 64 overweight girls in a Duke University program into three groups: One group read no books, one read another Beacon Street Girls book that didn't deal with health and weight loss, and one read "Lake Rescue."

After three months, the girls who had read no books showed a slight increase in their body mass index (BMI), which is a measure of body fat. Girls who had read other books cut their BMI by 0.33 percent, and those who had read "Lake Rescue" cut their BMI by 0.71 percent.

Though the changes are small, researchers say the study shows kids can change their eating and exercise habits if they know how.