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Providing exercise programs that are not intimidating for overweight youths can be difficult. To evaluate the effect of a 6-month after-school sports program on body-mass index (BMI), physical activity levels, television and other screen time, and psychological health, researchers randomized 21 overweight (≥85th percentile), low-income, predominantly Hispanic 4th and 5th graders to participate in a coed soccer program 3 days each week (75 minutes of activity per session) or to attend 25 weekly after-school nutrition and health education classes.
Soccer frequency was increased to 4 days weekly during the last 2 months of the study at the request of students and parents. No students dropped out of the study. Volunteer undergraduate students an…