Do team sports discourage some kids from being physically active? A study underway in four Wake County middle schools is looking for the answer.

Researchers from N.C. State, UNC and East Carolina University are hoping the study will shed light on ways to curb the rise in childhood obesity. North Carolina ranks fifth in the nation for obese kids.

"The biggest way to combat this childhood obesity epidemic that we have is to get more kids more active," said researcher Michael Kanters, N.C. State Associate Professor of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. "Not just when they are participating in sports, but all day, every day."

Participating kids from Centennial, Moore Square, Daniels and East Millbrook middle schools are wearing accelerometers to measure their activity levels from the time they wake up until they go to bed.

Moore Square sixth grader Kimberlyn Richards said she put it on and forgot about it...almost.

"I just tried to be as active as I could," she said.

The study also is examining the impact of interscholastic sports teams versus intramurals on total student activity levels. While East Millbrook and Daniels have interscholastic sports teams, neither Moore Square nor Centennial middle schools have them. Instead, students are encouraged to participate in intramural sports, which administrators say makes sports more accessible to students who aren't elite athletes.

"Coming from a school that had traditional athletics and coaching there for many years, we saw the same students in the fall that participated in the winter, that participated in the spring," said Marla Mondora, Moore Square assistant principal, who says about a third of students are participating this fall. "At the intramural program, everybody's allowed to participate."

Mondora says about a third of the student population is involved in intramurals this fall, but the number typically rises in winter as more young students learn about the program and more varied programs, like kickboxing and step dance, are offered.

Sixth grader and soccer player Will Snow is excited about intramurals.

"They don't usually keep score and you can just go out there and have fun," he said.

Kanters believes the expense of community and club sports makes schools even more important in exposing kids to physical activity and sports.

"A family has to drive their child to sports and pay extra money," he said. "And that works if you have those resources, but what we're concerned is what about all those kids that fall through the cracks?"

Researchers hope the project will lead to recommendations for middle school sports programs that will increase participation levels and encourage lifelong physical activity.