Study finds immigrant kids get less exercise

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Foreign-born children in the United States and U.S.-born children of immigrant parents get less exercise than other kids, raising their risk of obesity and other problems, a study showed on Monday.

The study, led by a U.S. government researcher, found that 11 percent of U.S.-born children with U.S.-born parents were physically inactive, defined as having no days in a given week in which they got at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise.

In comparison, 18 percent of foreign-born children with immigrant parents were physically inactive, the researchers wrote in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a journal published by the American Medical Association.

"Immigrant children in each ethnic minority group generally had higher physical inactivity and lower sports participation levels than native children," the researchers wrote.

The findings, based on data from a 2003 U.S. government survey involving 68,288 children ages 6 to 17, indicate this group may be at higher risk for obesity and the various health complications it entails.

Obesity raises a person's risk of heart disease, the most common form of diabetes, stroke, arthritis and some cancers.

The trend was particularly apparent in Hispanic children.

Among Hispanics, 23 percent of foreign-born children with immigrant parents were physically inactive, compared to 15 percent of Hispanics born in the United States whose parents also were born in the United States, the study showed.