Doctors never thought they would advise overweight kids to read in order to shed some pounds.  But a study by obesity researchers at Duke University finds that the simple act of reading — depending on the choice of material — can spur weight loss in tween-age girls, reports TIME.

The experiment included 31 obese girls aged 9 to 13, who were enrolled in the Healthy Lifestyles Program at Duke Children’s Hospital (USA) a comprehensive family-centered weight loss plan that addresses patients’ medical, dietary and behavioral needs.  There were three groups of girls and each was given two books to choose from: Lake Rescue-whose protagonist is an overweight preteen who struggles with low self-esteem, feelings of isolation and teasing because of her size – and Charlotte in Paris.  The first two groups read one of the books while the third didn’t read any.

At the end of the experiment it was concluded that girls who read Lake Rescue lost more weight than those who had chosen Charlotte in Paris.  The girls could relate to the situation of the heroine in Lake Rescue motivating them to live healthy lifestyles.  The motivation and the ‘I can do it’ feeling encourages the girls.

Hospitals in the region are planning to promote this ‘reducing weight by reading’ effort to help obese children. Reading and loosing weight is much better than taking medicine that has side effects.

Read it at TIME.

Image Source: British Council and Science Photo.