Physical Education Could Save Our Future All schools in the United States should require some sort of physical education program in order to promote a healthier lifestyle and to help improve academics. These plus many other benefits can come from physical education in school. Even including physical activity breaks in class and having recess shows positive results both health wise and academically. The United States currently ranks number one as the most obese country on the planet. The percent of obese adults in the country is constantly increasing as well as the numbers of obese children. An article on kidshealth.org states that one of every three children in the United States are considered obese or overweight. Who’s to blame for the cause of this huge problem we are facing? Many people can be pointed at for being the reason, but I believe our youth is not being introduced into a healthy lifestyle early enough. It seems like we only try to address this problem when it is too late instead of stopping it before it begins. Having mandatory physical education classes in our school systems could help solve this problem. Children who do not take part in regular physical activity are at a greater risk of becoming obese and are more likely to have poor health later in life. In California it is law that

children in grades one to six receive 200 minutes of physical activity every ten days. However only about half of the school districts in the state comply with this law. Research and tests were done and Emma V. Sanchez-Vaznaugh, Sc.D., assistant professor of health education at San Francisco State University found that “...children were 29% more likely to be physically fit if they attended schools in policy-compliant school districts...” This was compared to the students that attended the non compliant schools. This is proof that having mandatory physical education has positive effects towards health. Today modern technology now replaces older forms of entertainment and physical activity levels are being lowered because of it. Television, computers, video games, and cell phones are brought into a child’s life at a very young age and this is where they find entertainment. An article done by “Get Kids In Action” shows a very scary statistic explaining how children through their teen years spend an average of nearly six hours a day on media driven devices. Years ago children played outside and were more active every day. With so many distractions from this old form of fun, kids now a days would rather sit inside, they don’t want to be active. That is why having mandatory physical education will benefit a child. They will have to be active for a certain amount of time while in class. This can also influence a child to be more active in their everyday lives. The technology of today also batters our youth with advertisements for fatty foods and television promotes the wrong lifestyle. When children are young they can be influenced very easily, and when they are surrounded by unhealthy foods and video games, they are going to be

guided in the wrong direction. Having to be active and promoting a healthy life during mandatory PE classes will influence them in the right direction. An article done by “Time Magazine” said, “Leah Lipsky and Ronal Iannotti, staff scientists at the Eunice Kennedy Shrive National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, report that for every hour of television children watch, they are 8% less likely to eat fruit every day, 18% more likely to eat candy, and 16% more likely to eat fast food.” It’s obvious that that mandatory physical education in school can make you healthier and more fit but it also has other benefits. Studies have shown that physical education also improves academics in students. Charles Hillman, a professor of kinesiology and community health, lead research that was conducted comparing academics to physical activity level. Hillman suggests
that