One out of Three American Kids Unfit

Oct. 2, 2006 <p> -- MANY U.S. YOUTHS PHYSICALLY UNFIT One out of three adolescents in the United States is physically unfit, according to new research from the University of South Carolina. Researchers evaluated fitness in more than 3,000 boys and girls ages 12 to 19 who took part in a large government study. Published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, the study found that one-third of the kids could not meet national fitness standards. Decreased activity levels in young adults may be a major factor in the dramatic rise of obesity in the United States, researchers said. They believe that adolescents who live a sedentary lifestyle of TV watching and playing video games will continue their inactivity into adulthood and increase their risk of chronic diseases and death.

LOW BIRTH WEIGHT AND IQ Infants born at a low birth weight, less than 4½ pounds, are more likely to experience problems speaking, thinking and learning when they hit adolescence. Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center tested 474 low birth weight, nondisabled adolescents and found that the group had more motor problems and significantly lower IQs than their normal birth weight peers. The authors suggest that advances in pregnancy and neonatal care may help improve the outcomes for low birth weight infants. These results were published this week in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

MEDICAL ERRORS OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL A new study looking at medical errors that occur outside the hospital, such as those in a family physician's office, laboratory or radiology office, found a high rate of serious errors -- 106 serious errors out of 181 cases examined. The errors caused serious harm to the patient most frequently were a delayed or inaccurate diagnosis for cancer, especially breast, colorectal or skin cancer. Doctors sometimes failed to order the right diagnostic tests, failed to create a follow-up plan, failed to take an adequate history or perform a physical exam or interpret test results correctly. This research was published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine by researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

SMOKING BAN DROPS HEART ATTACK RATE Researchers in Piedmont, Italy, said that a ban on indoor smoking reduced the heart attack rate by 11 percent in people under age 60 just five months after the ban was enacted. Doctors compared rates of heart attack in people under 60 in the five months since the ban on indoor smoking to the rate of heart attacks during the same period the year before. Published this week in the European Heart Journal, their research showed a drop of 90 heart attacks in the region, and they said the reduction is likely due to less exposure to secondhand smoke while indoors.

STAT is a brief look at the latest medical research and is compiled by Joanna Schaffhausen, who holds a doctorate in behavioral neuroscience. She works in the ABC News Medical Unit, evaluating medical studies, abstracts and news releases.