Children 'more active' in homes with dogs

Owning a dog could help to lower the risk of childhood obesity, according to researchers.

Barack Obama's daughters with their dog Bo

A study of children in 78 inner-city primary schools in England found children in homes with dogs were more active than those without.

They found that children in dog-owning families took part in more physical exercise and were less sedentary.But researchers are still not sure whether this is a case of more active families being more likely to own a dog - or if owning a dog makes an otherwise sedentary family more active.

"It's a bit of a chicken and egg question. Long-term studies are needed to answer it, but it may be a bit of both," says Christopher Owen, senior lecturer in epidemiology at St George's.