Fitness News

AP - West Virginia is hoping that a little wheel can make a big difference in the state's obesity problem. The wheel is a body mass index calculator, a low-tech tool that will be distributed to doctors across the state as part of a new effort to get physicians to recognize obesity early in their patients.

Certain female college athletes, such as swimmers, divers and runners, have lower bone density than other athletes, a new study finds.

Three months of daily, vigorous exercise can improve overweight kids' thinking, U.S. researchers report.

(HealthDay News) - Getting needed exercise can be as simple as performing a few household chores regularly.

Inline skating offers a fun, low-impact workout that can burn as many calories as cycling or running.

Jane Ross, a 42-year-old Boston area gym buff, is honest about it: When exercising, she sometimes grunts.

(HealthDay News) - Any time you rake leaves, don't forget that you're sneaking in some exercise. Just as you'd prepare for a trip to the gym, you need to ward off possible injury by taking precautions before you rake.

Providing physical therapy to respiratory patients in the intensive care unit can shorten the time they have to spend in the hospital, researchers report.

About 60 percent of the protection provided to women by exercise against heart disease and stroke comes from its effect on a few specific risk factors, says a U.S. study in the journal Circulation.

AP - Khalil Colon was sweaty but smiling after 25 jumping jacks and 20 laps around the school gym. A year ago, the 9-year-old said, running made him feel "like I'm about to drop on the middle of the floor."

Although U.S. schools have made strides with programs to promote the health and safety of students -- particularly in the areas of nutrition, physical activity and tobacco use -- there's still room for significant improvement.

Millions of gym buffs do it regularly, but stretching before or after exercise will not prevent muscle soreness, a new study contends.

Doing stretching and aerobic workouts in warm water may help relieve pain and improve daily function in people with knee or hip osteoarthritis.

Oral thermometers and other standard methods can't accurately gauge core body temperatures in athletes with suspected heat exhaustion or heat stroke, a new study warns.

AFP - The government on Monday launched a campaign for greater participation in sports at school to combat the growing threat of obesity that the health secretary said was comparable to global warming.

When it comes to picking footwear, runners should follow Prince Charming's lead and consider a shoe's fit, not its price tag, new research suggests.

Reuters - A type of social training helps children sustain weight loss achieved after completing a "state-of-the-art" weight loss treatment, investigators report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

(HealthDay News) - Athlete's foot is a fungal infection, often found in public locker rooms and showers, or anywhere else that is damp, dark and warm.

The pluck and luck that helped the upstart New York Jets football team capture Super Bowl III in 1969 -- considered one of the biggest upsets in U.S. sports history -- seems to have followed the players well into their retirement.

There's no strong evidence linking amateur boxing with long-term brain injury, according to a team of sports doctors and clinical academics who've reviewed 36 studies on the issue.