Can a Lack of Physical Education Classes in High Schools Become a Future Threat to the U.S Life Expectancy?

Schools are a very important factor in determining obesity. Schools that resist a role in their students’ health welfare are setting their students’ up for obesity or at least poor health. In fact, “children consume 30 to 50 percent of their calories in school” (Klobuchar, 2011). Schools can be a positive influence and provide

 I feel like schools should pay closer attention monitoring the health of children because health is such an important factor in everyday life and not all children are given that luxury at home. Some students might feel that they are overweight and schools can help students understand what the real definition of overweight is, how can they stop becoming overweight and the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Sometimes the stigma of being overweight can lead to eating disorders of students so it’s good to promote positive eating

Physical education classes are not enjoyed by all, in fact, some students do their best to get out of the class each day, but without this class, students would sit in school for seven hours a day with the only exercise being walking from class to class. While changing clothes and possibly getting sweaty may not seem productive for students who have spent an hour doing their hair, or feel awkward changing in front of others, this class provides positive ways of fighting obesity, releasing energy, retaining more academically, and learning discipline. Thus, students should be required to take physical education courses in high school.

The health of students should be considered one of the most important issues in education. However, as of 2012, the Center for Disease Control calculated that over one third of children and adolescents were either overweight or obese. Not only does obesity cause physical health problems, but can also affect the academic performance of students. Over the past few years, Americans have been working together to find solutions for this problem.

School lunches, curriculum focus, and daily activities have changed in elementary schools over the years. The nutritional value in school lunches often meet a bare minimum. Curriculum is focused strongly on idealistic future careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; but often forget teaching basic healthy habits needed for lifelong health. Physical education is no longer required every single day. Obesity has become an epidemic and not just for adults, it is increasingly affecting children as well. Children spend a generous amount of time in the classroom. They spend more time in school than at home or anywhere else. Therefore, schools have a responsibility in preventing obesity in adolescents by teaching them healthy habits, serving them nutritious food, and providing them with adequate physical activity.

Childhood obesity is a major health condition that is effecting many middle-aged students in America. Obesity has been an issue in America for over the past few decades. It is important to find a way to fix this problem. Luckily, there are plenty ways to heal this issue. This essay discusses the reasoning behind childhood obesity, and how physical education and government involvement in schools can help prevent obesity. The requirement of every state in America to introduce physical education into elementary schools will also help solve this problem. Developing the younger population is very important because one day they will become the future leaders, making health related decisions that will affect the entire American population.

The rate of childhood obesity has grown an enormous amount over the years with more than 40 million children being overweight! That number is astonishingly high and it is very obvious that something needs to be done about this. Studies had shown in 2008 that more than 40 million children were said to be overweight and the sad truth is that they are still increasing rapidly to this day; also every 1 in 4 teenagers is said to not reach the fitness guidelines (Tanner) according to an article by Lindsey Tanner. For this problem to be resolved not only do the parents of children need to make sure their kids are staying active but also, the schools they attend need to make sure they are getting a well-balanced meal and have some type of physical activity during their school day. Each state in America is given a percentage rate on the number of obese people in that particular state. The highest ranking state is Mississippi with a percentage of 34.9 and the state ranking the least is Connecticut with 24.5 percent. Different researches have shown that each day 850 lives are taken due to obesity and each year there are more than 300,000 people that die from obesity related illnesses. These are deaths that most likely could have been avoided if these individuals would have had the proper exercise and diet in their lives.

It is estimated that in the United States 10 % of the children who still do not go to the school has a dangerous considered excess weight, rates of obesity in schools has tripled over the past three decades, and 31 % of the adults fall into the category of obese (at least 13 Kg. overweight).

Over the last 30-40 years, the amount and intensity of exercise has gradually declined. Few children in the United States have actually met the recommended “sixty minutes of vigorous exercise” per day (Institute of Medicine, 2013). Although most states and districts have policies pertaining to physical education, these programs lack reinforcement and are often considered weak. Physical education has slowly declined throughout the years, and the the purpose of encouraging students to make physical activity part of their daily lifestyle has been lost. Recent research from Cornell University has found that the average high school gym class consists of students being active for an average of only sixteen minutes! This is nowhere near the recommended sixty minutes of physical exercise. Physical education has been pushed to the side while academics have been prioritised. P.E. classes have become overlooked by society as a whole. Students simply see it as a courses used only for socializing, or to avoid academic courses such as Algebra, Biology, and History. While teachers no longer encourage students to be active, this should not be the path in which we take physical education. The importance of exercise and physical activity goes beyond the classroom with is proven benefits in memory, cognition and attention which are skills that can be used for daily life activities. In recent times, many programs are popping up across the country to emphasize the importance of being active!

Physical education should be a fun class, but fun does not have to mean chaos. I believe in a structure that will allow the students to have fun in a safe way. My lesson plans will be structured so that students are constantly engaged in physical activity. I feel that if I can keep students moving and learning, then the chances of misbehavior will decrease. In elementary school I feel that Instant Activities should be used to get students moving when they get into my class. High school is a little different. I feel that students at the secondary school level should be introduced physical fitness activities that will help keep them in shape later on in life.

The obesity epidemic is a widespread problem in children and turning it around will be a huge challenge. However, the right place to start attacking the epidemic is at our schools. American children and teenagers are consuming more unnecessary calories than ever, resulting in health problems and rising obesity rates. Schools should provide healthier foods to promote good nutrition and to prevent obesity and health problems. According to an article titled “Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause” published in the New York Times in 2011, systematic approaches to lower the obesity rate include schools increasing the price of unhealthy foods and drinks, schools providing a larger selection of healthy food, and introducing

In conclusion, the Obesity epidemic is ever-growing and without the efforts of everyone no change will be made. It is time for us to fight for the future of America by making changes in the schools and educating our children. By showing them the difference between unhealthy life and a healthy one. Having an improved health class from k-12 we can give students life skills that will better and prolong their future. The future is in our hands and if we continue to neglect it we will eat ourselves to

In order to impede the epidemic of childhood obesity, the actual causes of the problem need to be evaluated and dissected. Obesity in children is becoming a huge problem in American society. In the past three decades, the rate of overweight children has increased by 300%. This is an alarming rate that is only climbing higher. Every member in society should take steps to becoming healthier. This would help the present generations as well as future generations to come. The lifestyle of Americans keeps us too busy to be a healthy society.

Physical education is defined nowadays as a “systematic instruction in sports, exercises, and hygiene given as part of a school or college program” (Park). When most people think of the term “physical education” they think of it as “a broad, inclusive term comprising the fields of physical education, health education, safety education, athletics, recreation, dance education, kinesiology and so on” (Zeigler 1). It may sometimes be referred to as physical training or gym class and mainly is taught in grades kindergarten all to the way up to your senior year in high-school in the United States. The history of physical education dates way back to the Greek and Roman times and has slowly evolved into what it is now today. There is a

The perspective of this paper is to develop a philosophy on physical education and then explain what kind of job we plan on having later on in life and relate physical education to that. The purpose for developing this philosophy is to try and get the most out of the people I’m working with on physical education, whether it is an adult or adolescent.