WASHINGTON (AP) - Young people are more active than adults probably suspected, but that's still not active enough, researchers say.

A report looked at 26 studies in which 1,883 young people, ages 3 to 17, wore heart rate monitors to determine how active they were. The young people accumulated at least 30 minutes of moderate activity daily, and at least 60 minutes of at least low-intensity activity, the study found.

"It was a surprise to us, too," said researcher Leonard H. Epstein of the University at Buffalo, N.Y. "But these studies are quite consistent."

Epstein and his colleagues reviewed the reports and statistically combined the data into a single type of heart rate calculation. The findings were reported in the online September issue of the American Academy of Pediatrics journal, Pediatrics.

The typical young person met or exceeded the current minimum recommended federal goals for exercise, which is 30 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week, Epstein said.

"They seem to get a lot of accumulated activity during the day, walking back and forth to classes, playing at recess, going out with their friends," Epstein said.

That doesn't mean kids get enough activity consistently to improve their fitness. Scientists consider the fitness benefits to require 20 to 60 minutes of vigorous activity three to five days a week. "They still don't meet the standards of aerobic activity," Epstein said.

Clearly, some young people do meet the standards - teen athletes, for instance. But the summary article in the Pediatrics report looked only at minutes accumulated during the day, not whether those minutes were strung together into blocks of exercise.

It might be that accumulated minutes, even scattered through the day, will make kids healthier and possibly even more physically fit, but research has not yet shown this, Epstein said. So it's also possible that the time kids spend running around, although it might be fun, doesn't produce health or fitness benefits, he said.

Just the same, those scattered minutes are worth encouraging, especially among preteens, said Russell R. Pate, associate dean for research, at the University of South Carolina's school of public health.

"The normal pattern of physical activity in young kids is to be active in sports," said Pate, who was not connected with the study. But that's not kids' style, he said.

"Sustained continuous bouts of relatively intense exercise is really an adult form of exercise," Pate said. "You don't see much of it until they are at least into the adolescent age range."

Pate doesn't suggest giving kids a free ride onto the couch and away from the gym. Judging from the way kids are growing fat, many don't exercise at intensities high enough to burn fat, and encouraging accumulations of exercise may result in kids burning more calories, he said.

Young people certainly are capable of, and could benefit from, much more than they are doing, said Judith Young, executive director of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, a professional group.

Her organization encourages elementary schoolchildren to be physically active from at least 60 minutes to several hours per day, and Young said that's not beyond them. "Kids naturally do accumulation They are into mad dashing and flopping down and resting like a puppy dog," she said.

Exercise habits learned as children often develop into healthful habits that reduce the risk of heart disease and other causes of death in adulthood, the group said.

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