The Federal Government Should Participate In Physical Education

The publics idea of health has evolved over the decades, similar to fashion in that it is continuously morphing and even trends have resurrected with new twists. Recent developments have seen widespread awareness of the importance of regular exercise and many benefits of a balanced diet. Yet despite the plethora of health and fitness methods and resources, the general population has never been so physically sedentary and out of shape. According to the national center for health statistics, America life expectancy has declined despite advances in the fitness industry, concerns over secondary conditions such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes has created an urgency of public health officials as they try to mandate new strategies to fight this national epidemic.

As a former college athlete and the daughter of a veteran, I was always infatuated with the idea of staying physically fit. However, when I began working as a medical scribe at a Family Medicine clinic and interacting with many patients living with a pattern of chronic illnesses such as Diabetes Mellitus and Coronary Artery Disease, I realized that many people did not share these same ideas and passion for physical activity and disease and injury prevention. Talking to these patients and their families, I realized that most of their diseases were life threatening and costly, yet what if these patients had taken steps to prevent their illnesses through exercise and diet, would heart disease still be the leading cause of death in the U.S. today? If we could lessen tobacco prevalence,

Implementing these lifestyle habits will result in healthier people and lowered rates of chronic illness. One avenue to best prevent the development of chronic disease is to have health and wellness programs in the community, workplace, and schools (NCSL, 2012). If the population was properly educated on how to realistically live healthy lifestyles, then it would be easier to change and adopt healthier habits. This is especially true for adolescents in the school system. If nutrition and health classes were mandatory components of education across the nation, children would be able to learn healthy habits early on in life and more easily maintain those habits as they grow older. Results of these programs would be vastly beneficial due to a reduction in chronic disease prevalence. In addition to promoting healthy lifestyles and chronic disease prevention, discovering and implementing newly effective treatments are paramount to reduce chronic disease. With more advanced technology and medications, early detection and management of chronic diseases are improved and risks for CCM are reduced (Chatterjee et al., 2014). These improvements will not only

The schools play an important part in the health of a child, there in schools they learn how to be active, eat healthy, and some schools districts provide a great program fun and fitness, but unfortunately, not all kids that need it participate in those programs, due to the lack of information to the parents.

Tobacco use, obesity, and physical inactivity are the leading contributors to morbidity and mortality in the United States. We can decrease the morbidity and mortality of the three leading contributors.

Although sports aid in the prevention of heart disease and obesity. As the article What in The Name of High School Football? states, “The single greatest factor in preventing the nation’s number one killer - heart disease - is regular and vigorous exercise, and that gets my vote.” Exercising regularly and keeping a healthy diet can prevent many health-related diseases. But there are many, much less dangerous,

America is the wealthiest country in the world, yet the health of Americans is extremely low. “According to the Mayo Clinic, the top health problems in America vary slightly between men and women, however, heart disease kills the largest number of Americans per year regardless of gender” (Kulas, 2013). Being overweight is another major health concern in our nation today. Obesity has been directly linked to numerous other significant health problems including: Heart Disease, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, and Stroke. There are many things our government can do to improve the health of our nation; there are also some simple solutions everyone should do to better their family’s health. The most effective ways to end this health crises in America are government regulations or laws, community education programs, everyone being more physically active and getting an appropriate amount of sleep.

Not only do schools offer unhealthy foods for children, but most do not offer the required amount of physical activity. Most adolescents fall short of the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommendation of at least one hour of aerobic activity every day. Only 18% of students in high school met that recommendation in 2007. All schools need to require some sort of a physical activity class. In 2009 only 33% took daily physical education classes. (CDC 2) Needless to say, schools play a very crucial role in the problem of childhood obesity. Physical Activity in schools could be a huge key in helping fix this problem.

Lisa Mooney says that physical education raises endorphin levels in ones body which helps reduce stress. Stress can affect behavior, as well as other things such as health problems like high blood pressure. By reducing stress form physical activity, people can avoid health crisis such as heart disease. Kristine Tucker agrees that good health can prevent illnesses such as osteoporosis, cancer, hearth disease, and diabetes. All these illnesses could negatively affect health strongly in not noticed immediately. From this information it is evident that by making gym mandatory. Children can avoid bad health situations. Equally important is the fact that students should get 3 hours and 45 minutes of gym class a week says the Society of Health and Physical Educators. In other words, without PE most kids would not get enough physical activity in a week. PE helps keep students physically on track. Ella Sarwal, a student believes that students should have PE everyday be issue of the health benefits. She also says that many students have other

Currently, kids in high schools are becoming fatter, slower, less intelligent and less motivated than past generations. We know that many teenagers would rather be sitting in front of a television than be doing something physically active. Teenagers believe they do not have enough time, opportunity and freedom to engage in physical activities. I believe the first way we can solve this issue is by starting in the high schools themselves, as students are able to receive an adequate among of exercise as well as receive guidance from instructors. In our society, physical education is only mandatory for one year, and I feel if the situation were reversed, fewer kids would be lacking physical exercise and our society of teenagers would be more active. Therefore, I feel that every student should be required to take a Physical Education class every year of high school because it promotes healthy living and makes students more well-rounded physically, mentally, and spiritually. Primarily, in our growing world, obesity is becoming more prevalent, and mandatory Physical Education classes would solve these problems and teach kids better strategies for living healthy lifestyles in both the present and future. In addition, Physical Education gives us more energy and increases our brain function which is known to help us in other subject areas. Finally, physical education is able to give teenagers skills necessary for social function such as valuable skills like communication and

As a Physical education teacher it is my job to teach students about how to be healthy in their everyday lives. I specifically want to teach students in a high school setting where physical education is sometimes undervalued as just playing dodgeball in the gym. As a future educator in this field I value the belief that health, and personal fitness should be taught with the same importance as math or English class. I believe this because we live in a world where obesity rates are sky rocketing, kids are

Physical education is important because it is beneficial for a person’s overall health. There are many problems that could potentially arise from non-physical activity such as increase in chronic disease, poor bone development, and obesity. These problems could be combated if physical education was part of the required curriculum. According to Lee (2007), physical activity can lower the risk of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes in adults. It is important that children learn the importance of their health at an

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the recommended amount of physical activity is thirty minutes per day, and many adults do not meet this minimum.6 In the past, rates of cardiovascular disease were high, as the rates of smoking were higher. As smoking is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, such as COPD, as rates of smoking fall, so will rates of cardiovascular disease. As more and more adults and children begin to realize the importance of cardiovascular exercise and avoiding cigarettes, the rate of these diseases can be expected to fall further. However, less than 30% of high school students reach the recommended amount of physical activity needed, and further intervention is therefore

The first concern that comes to mind when talking about outdoor education is the physical activity, children should be getting to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Obesity is always considered the top health concern but really it is the comorbidity factors that go along with obesity that is causing so much of a problem. With “conditions that previously only affected adults, such as type 2 diabetes, breathing problems, depression, heart disease, and inflammation are now striking children as young as 6” the country needs a way to reach children’s interests when it comes to proper physical activity. (Lee) When you look at today’s physical education practices in school systems, you will find trends of adolescents being uninterested in the boring laps around the gym, or outdated health videos they are required to watch. This often leads children into not participating in

Physical activity in school used to be a big part of school, but as time marched on physical activity became less and less important to school boards even some schools went as far as removing physical education completely. Today it is required that schools have physical education, but as childhood obesity rates have shown, that is not enough. Childhood obesity has skyrocketed lately and it has shown to have an effect on children academically as well as their health. With children spending a huge portion of their childhood in school, school has a great opportunity to help children stay healthy as well as get an education. “A research project called PAAC with 24 elementary schools showed that adding sessions of physical activity to a school curriculum could have long term benefits both academic and health.(Source 1)” “One school took a survey of children playing active video games and traditional recess, it showed that the children who played the active video games showed an improvement in math scores.(Source 1)” “Among 5,316 students in grades K through fifth grade, the frequency and duration of P.E. class were positively associated with standardized test performance among girls but not boys.(Source 1)” “When