Kids decline in exercise comes earlier than thought

We hear it all the time - kids aren't getting enough exercise.

Now there's word that the age when physical activity drops is younger than experts thought.

Researchers looked at 600 kids between the ages of 6 and 11, expecting a drop around age 11.

To their surprise, many kids were sitting more by age 8, with an even bigger drop at 11.

All that sitting takes its toll.

"You're actually not clearing certain metabolites in the blood that increase health risk for things like type 2 diabetes and cardiac disease down the road, and even in younger children we're seeing that," says Dr. Eva Love, pediatrician at the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital.

Some of the sitting is due to electronic devices.

Dr. Eva Love says parents can't eliminate that entirely, but need to be more cognizant of it and re-direct children to more active pastimes