Read a novel... lose some weight

Here's an interesting medical study to help you exercise your new found judgment skills on the veracity of medical trials.

A Duke Children's Hospital study has shown that when given a healthy lifestyle promoting novel to read, girls 9 to 13 years old reduced their BMI by almost one percent over the span of 6 months. The novel, #6 in the Beacon Street Girls Series called Lake Rescue, is about girls who take an outdoor adventure.

My source for this study is a Parent Dish post which sources The Daily Mail.

Here are some relevant questions you can ask yourself when you read these articles - although the articles don't answer all of these questions.

* What was the purpose of the study?
* What is BMI and how is it an important indicator of health?
* What percentage change in BMI is considered significant?
* Why did the researchers choose this age group?
* What are the relevant characteristics of girls? Were they all obese? And by what measurement?
* How many girls were in this study?
* Was there a control group of similar girls for comparison?
* How did the researchers choose who got the book to read and who did not?
* Were the control girls given anything to read? Or nothing at all?
* How many girls were compliant with reading the book?
* What were the criteria in choosing the book Lake Rescue?

The UK newspaper article also mentions that this is a "prospective interventional study." There are multitudes of types of medical studies, and understanding the different types will help you grasp the benefits and negatives surrounding the study at hand.

Prospective means that when that information gathered for this study has not yet happened in the girls lives when the study begins. For example, I might ask someone to drink chicken soup the next time she gets sick so I can measure the effects of chicken soup on a cold. In contrast, a retrospective study gathers information that has already happened. In that case, I would ask someone if they have ever drank chicken soup while they had a cold and how long it took for them to recover.

An interventional study means the participants were given a specific treatment, in this case a book.

I hope this helps, now go give your kids a healthy inducing book to read.