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Recent research indicates that a child’s local environment may inhibit their natural urge to exercise.

It is often suggested that environmental factors affect children’s exercise, but experts have found it hard to quantify. Studies which altered the environment to increase exercise opportunities have been inconclusive, so Professor Jane Wardle from University College London, UK and her team tried a new approach, looking at twins.

In the journal PLoS One, they explain that twin studies are a type of “natural experiment” that can show the effect of environmental factors, while controlling for genetic differences.