69. Why Kids' Exercise Matters Less Than We Think
By John Cloud TIME Wednesday, May. 13, 2009

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The logic seems pretty simple: if you eliminate gym class, school kids will get fatter. In 2006, a blue-ribbon commission released a worried report about the precipitous decline of physical education in schools since the early '90s, coinciding with a ballooning rate of obesity in kids. Both Democrats and Republicans have latched onto that argument to criticize school districts for eliminating P.E. in order to spend more to meet the rigorous testing standards of 2001's No Child Left Behind Act. Even G.O.P. Senator John Cornyn, a Texan who despises most government spending, has bragged about his support for a federal program that gives grants to schools for P.E. classes. Congress has appropriated more than $320 million for the grants.
But could it be that the underlying assumption behind the program is wrong? Last week at the European Congress on Obesity in Amsterdam, a team of researchers from Peninsula Medical School in the U.K. presented findings from a painstaking study of physical activity in 206 children ages 7 to 11 from three schools in and around Plymouth, on the southern coast of England. Kids at the first school, an expensive private academy, got an average of 9.2 hours per week of scheduled P.E. Kids at the other two schools one in a village near Plymouth and the other an urban school got just 2.4 hours and 1.7 hours of P.E. per week, respectively.

A. 어휘
excercise 운동. matter 중요하다. logic 논리. eliminate 삭제하다.
gym class 체육수업. blue-ribbon 특별의, 가장 뛰어난. commission 위원회.
release 발표하다, 放免(방면)하다. precipitous 가파른, 절벽의. decline 내리막, 감퇴.
physical education(P.E) 체육. coincide 일치하다. balloon 상승하다. rate 비율.
obesity 肥滿(비만). Democrats 미국 민주의원(당원).
Republicans 미국 공화당의원(당원). latch 걸쇠를 걸다. argument 주장.
criticize 비판하다. school district 學區(학구). rigorous 엄격한.
testing standards 평가기준.
No Child Left Behind Act. 학습탈락자방지법. cf. act 법률.
G.O.P. 미국 공화당(Grand Old Party). senator 상원의원. Texan 텍사스 주 사람.
despise 몹시 싫어하다, 경멸하다. spending 지출. brag 자랑하다.
federal 聯邦(연방)의. grants 보조금. Congress 미국 국회(상원과 하원).
appropriate 지출을 승인하다. underlying 밑에 있는, 基底(기저)에 있는.
assumption 假定(가정). the European Congress 유럽회의. medical school 의과대학.
present 공개하다. painstaking 勞作(노작)의, 애쓴, 힘든.
physical activity 육체적 활동. private academy 사립학교. urban 도시의.
respectively 각각.

B. 구문
- But could it be that . . . the program is wrong?
[그 계획의 기저를 이루는 假定(가정)은 틀린 것은 아닐까?]

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In order to understand how much actual physical activity the kids were getting, the Peninsula team had them wear ActiGraphs, light but sophisticated devices that measure not only the amount of physical movement that one's body engages in but its intensity. During four one-week periods over four consecutive school terms, the kids wore the ActiGraphs not just during school but all day (except when bathing or sleeping).
The findings are remarkable: No matter how much P.E. they got during school hours, by the end of the day, the kids from the three schools had moved around about the same amount, at about the same intensity. The kids at the fancy private school underwent significantly more physical activity before 3 p.m. than the kids at the other two schools, but overall, when you look at entire days, they got no more activity. 'Once they get home, if they are very active at school, they are probably staying still a bit more because they've already expended so much energy,' says Alissa Fremeaux, a biostatistician who was the primary analyst on the data. 'The others are more likely to grab a bike and run around after school, or maybe join a sports club.'
Fremeaux's conclusion: 'Trying to force a kid to exercise may not work.' Anyone who has ever been in P.E. class knows that she's right. (As a certifiable geek, I used to feign stomachaches every day so I could do my homework in the bleachers instead of play basketball.) But is there really nothing we can do to encourage kids to be more active?

A. 어휘
actual 실제적. sophisticated 精巧(정교)한, 교양이 있는. device 장치.
measure 측정하다. engage in 참여하다. intensity 强度(강도). undergo 받다, 겪다.
significantly 중대하게. consecutive 연속적인. school term 學期(학기).
findings 조사결과. bathing 목욕. remarkable 주목할만한, 놀랄만한.
undergo 받다, 겪다. significantly 주목할만하게, 의미 있을 만큼.
overall 전체적으로, 일반적으로. stay still 움직이지 않는다.
biostatistician 생물통계학자. primary 一次的(일차적). analyst 분석가.
grab 움켜쥐다. grab a bike 자전거를 타다. conclusion 결론.
certifiable 증명할 수 있는, (정신적으로)이상한. geek 기괴한 짓을 하는 흥행사.
feign 假裝(가장)하다, ...인체 하다. bleachers (야구장 따위의)지붕 없는 관람석.

B. 구문
- Trying to force a kid to exercise may not work
[아이에게 운동을 강요하는 것은 효과를 보지 못할 것이다.]
-so I could do my homework
cf. so→그래서(접속사)
[그래서 숙제를 할 수 있었다]