Dance classes may not offer much fitness

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (WPVI) -- For kids, getting enough exercise sometimes means popular after-school activities.

But one isn't the workout you might think.

You'd think a dance class would be a classic workout.

And kids, especially, flock to lessons in ballet, tap, and hip-hop after school.

We know it's fun for them, and great for creativity and self-expression.

But as exercise? A group of doctors says probably not.

Researchers at San Diego State University studied a group of more than two hundred young girls in dance classes in the San Diego area.

They outfitted the tiny dancers with activity monitors.

The average girl spent only 17 minutes in physical activity - barely half the recommended 30 minutes for after-school exercise.

Fewer than 1 in 10 of the students met that fitness goal during their dance class.

Even the most active style, hip-hop, came up short.

Remember, whether kids are ding a pirouette, or just cutting footloose, they'll have fun, but working out their moves doesn't mean it's a workout.