"A new investigation of a rural, Old Order Amish community shows Amish children have higher physical activity levels and lower rates of obesity when compared to children living in a modern, industrialized society. The study offers a compelling look at the prevalence of childhood obesity among children who, by lifestyle, are more active and do not utilize modern technology, including television, video games, or computers. The study is published in the March issue of Medicine & Science in Sports and ExerciseŽ, the official scientific journal of the "

" "This Old Order Amish community provides a glimpse at what may be possible, even required, if physical activity were not engineered out of so many daily tasks," said David R. Bassett, Jr., Ph.D., FACSM, the study's lead author. "Based on our results, it's fair to say that advances in modern technology are contributing to the current obesity epidemic. Although it would be impractical to mimic the Amish lifestyle, this study suggests that increased levels of physical activity could mitigate some of the health problems caused by sedentary habits." "

" Like a previous study on Amish adults, 139 children and adolescents (6-18 years of age) in a southern Ontario farming community wore sealed step counters and logged their physical activities for seven days. Body mass index was computed for each child, using their measured height and weight. Children were told not to modify their activities, and also were asked to record several activities they had participated in that day. "

". Only 7.2 percent of the Amish children were overweight; with only 1.4 percent obese. Approximately 25 percent of American and Canadian children in the same age categories are overweight. Likewise, American children's
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