/EINPresswire.com/ -- FORT WORTH, TX--(Marketwired - February 28, 2017) - The Center for Children's Health led by Cook Children's announced today the results from two studies on the impact of GoNoodle's online movement videos and games in greater Ft. Worth, Texas. One study shows students who play GoNoodle videos at school had 23 percent greater growth in reading knowledge and skills when compared to those that did not play GoNoodle. Another study shows an average 13 percent improvement in childhood normal weight (as measured by body mass index or BMI) during a three-year period for elementary-age students who attend schools at independent school districts using GoNoodle.

"This is the most powerful evidence to date showing that classroom physical activity dramatically improves health and academic performance in students," said Larry Tubb, Senior Vice President for Cook Children's.

For the past three years, Cook Children's has sponsored GoNoodle for elementary schools in greater Ft. Worth. Based on the health and academic impact of GoNoodle, and feedback from teachers about the value it brings to classrooms, Cook Children's has expanded its sponsorship of GoNoodle, making it available to more than 15,000 teachers and 300,000 students in public, private and charter schools across the six county region.

Since 2009, parents have been providing their children's height and weight measurements to the Center for Children's Health as part of broader study of children's health issues in Denton, Hood, Johnson, Parker, Tarrant, and Wise counties. The data includes 8,287 children from age 2 to 14. In analyzing this data, children 6-12 years old on average showed a 13.2 percent improvement in normal weight, as measured by BMI and adjusted for natural changes based on child's age. Individual age cohort improvements ranged from 1.9 percent to 17.5 percent improvement during the three-year period between 2012-2015. This time period correlates with the same time periods of GoNoodle's use in 521 schools across the six county area in which 124,829 elementary students (43 percent of eligible elementary students between 2012-2015) played GoNoodle each month at school. During the 2014-15 school year, Ft. Worth area students earned 34.7 million minutes of physical activity on GoNoodle.

"The number of elementary-aged children actively using GoNoodle is large enough, at 43 percent, for changes in their BMI to be reflected in the data about the entire population," said Larry Tubb, Senior Vice President for Cook Children's. "While there are other good community efforts towards improving childhood health, there are no other initiatives that achieve the reach, frequency of use, and measurable minutes provided by GoNoodle in our six county service area."

During the 2015-16 school year, assessments from over 1,000 fourth and fifth grade students from 26 Fort Worth area schools were evaluated. The standardized assessments of reading knowledge and skills of students who used GoNoodle (treatment group) were compared to the reading knowledge and skills of students who did not use GoNoodle (control group). The pre and post state standardized assessments of reading skills were used as the independent measures of students' skills. Fourth and fifth grade classrooms that used GoNoodle at least twice per week throughout the 2015-2016 school year were included in the treatment group. The study was conducted by SEG Measurement, an independent research organization.

"Students using GoNoodle showed significantly greater growth in reading scores on the state assessment," according to Scott Elliot, President of SEG Measurement. "Students using GoNoodle performed 23 percent better in reading than students who did not use GoNoodle. This study confirms and expands on prior studies that support the effectiveness of GoNoodle. Students perform better on standardized assessments and teachers report the product to be very effective in meeting their needs."

"Short bursts of in-classroom physical activity with GoNoodle yield big results for schools.

Across the country we are seeing that kids perform better academically, and they are growing up healthier," said Scott McQuigg, CEO & co-founder of GoNoodle. "These studies are strong evidence that getting students moving throughout the school day fuels kids' bodies and brains."

More information on each of these studies can be found at www.centerforchildrenshealth.org.

About Cook Children's

Cook Children's Health Care System embraces an inspiring Promise -- to improve the health of every child in our region through the prevention and treatment of illness, disease and injury. Based in Fort Worth, Texas, we're proud of our long and rich tradition of serving our community. Our not-for-profit organization is comprised of eight companies, including our Medical Center, Physician Network, Home Health Company, Northeast Hospital, Pediatric Surgery Center, Health Plan, Health Services Inc., and Health Foundation. With more than 60 primary, specialty and urgent care locations throughout Texas, families can access our top-ranked specialty programs and network of services to meet the unique needs of their child. For nearly 100 years we've worked to improve the health of children from across our primary service area of Denton, Hood, Johnson, Parker, Tarrant and Wise counties. We combine the art of caring with leading technology and extraordinary collaboration to provide exceptional care for every child. This has earned Cook Children's a strong, far-reaching reputation with patients traveling from around the country and the globe to receive life-saving pediatric care.

About GoNoodle

GoNoodle (launched in 2013), gets kids moving to be their smartest, strongest, bravest, silliest, bestest selves. Short, interactive movement videos and games make it awesomely simple and fun to incorporate movement into every part of the day with dancing, stretching, running and even mindfulness activities. At school, teachers use GoNoodle to keep students energized, engaged, and active inside the classroom. At home, GoNoodle turns screen time into active time, so families can have fun and get moving together. Currently, more than 12 million kids and over 600,000 teachers worldwide use GoNoodle each month. GoNoodle is used in 80% of U.S. public elementary schools in all 50 states and in schools around the world in 185 countries. Nearly 1.5 million families use GoNoodle at home either through the website or the recently released iOS app. Learn more at www.gonoodle.com.

About SEG Measurement

SEG Measurement is an independent provider of research and assessment development services. We believe that students have a right to an education grounded in research-proven solutions. SEG Measurement is located in New Hope, Pennsylvania, between New York City and Philadelphia. Learn more at www.segmeasurement.com.