News That Matters

Tag: children

Jul172017 by adminNo Comments
Children 'exercise less as they get older'

Children 'exercise less as they get older'

Health
The number of children doing an hour of exercise a day falls by nearly 40% between the ages of five and 12.Figures suggest that by the final year of primary school, just 17% of pupils are doing the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity every day.A spokesman for Public Health England described the drop in activity levels as "concerning".More than a third of children in England are overweight by the time they leave primary school.A new survey from Public Health England and Disney looked at the effects of physical activity on children's emotional wellbeingMore than 1,000 children aged five to 11 were questioned, with their parents acknowledging that being active made their children feel happier (79%), more confident (72%), and more sociable (74%).But the survey also found that children'...
Read More
Jul12017 by adminNo Comments
Tempo proves key as Japanese children learn to write

Tempo proves key as Japanese children learn to write

Science
June 30 (UPI) -- Most research suggests handwriting is combination of acquired skills: the understanding of how different letters are shaped and the hand-eye coordination used to replicate those shapes with a pen.New research, however, suggests timing is an important part of the learning process -- at least for Japanese first-graders learning hiragana script.As Japanese students practiced painting the phonetic symbols, researchers from Kobe University had the first-graders focus on the stroke patterns and rhythm required to replicate each symbol.When scientists observed the handwriting, they found distinct strokes emerged -- stop, sweep or jump -- for each symbol. They also observed the emergence of distinct timing patterns for different symbols.The findings -- detailed in the journal Deve...
Read More