teens

The benefits of yoga continue to stretch and now the advantages of down-dogging on sticky mats is reaching out to kids. In today’s fast-paced and information-overload society, most of us have a tough time focusing on one task for more than a few minutes and when it comes to the attention span of kids, they are no different.

In a study by Gaiam and California State University, researchers showed that kids who did yoga received better grades and had less disciplinary action taken against them in class.

Marsha Wenig, creator of the Gaiam YogaKids DVD program and the president of YogaKids International credits these results to the physical aspect of yoga since children learn best when they learn through movement. The postures of yoga help develop hand-eye coordination and motor skills at the same time as they produce the mind-stilling moments that have helped to give yoga the reputation of being a wondrous stress-reducer.

Where there are fast-food restaurants, you will likely find obese people. And that’s just as true for kids who have them close to their schools. If logic isn’t enough, a study has confirmed it.

A new report has found there to be an increased obesity rate of at least 5.2 percent among teenagers at schools where fast-food outlets were a tenth of a mile or less away. That’s only about one city block, so it’s believable that the kids would partake in a little take-out.

Eric N. Gioia, a city councilman from Queens, New York. wants to stop fast-food restaurants from opening so close to the city’s schools.