SOME MESA STUDENTS TO WEAR PEDOMETERS AS PART OF EXPERIMENT

The Associated Press State & Local Wire
October 20, 2004

In an attempt to combat childhood obesity, students in some Mesa schools will wear pedometers to find the best way to get children to be more active.

Students in selected classes in 12 elementary schools in the Mesa Unified School District will participate in the experiment starting in January.

They will wear pedometers four consecutive days to set a baseline on their average steps taken per day.

Then, they will wear the pedometers for six weeks to see how active they are. Half of the children will be given goals. The others will simply be measured on what they do on their own.

The main objective is to find ways schools can encourage kids to continue moving when the school day is over, according to district officials.