Childhood+Obesity+and+Physical+Education+in+Schools

According the CDC, the number of obese children has doubled since 1980 (2008). The CDC has also found that in 2007-2008 obesity rose from 6.5 to 19.6% among 6-11 year olds (2010).
 * __Obesity __**
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 * Obesity Map 2007 Data ||


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Today many children are not getting enough exercise. According to the CDC almost half children ages 12-21 are not involved in vigorous activity regularly (1999). According to the CDC children should get at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day. These activities can include walking biking and even playing with friends. During this 60 minutes children should do some sort of muscle strengthening activities three days a week such as pushups, gymnastics, or swimming.   [] Physical activity can help lower the risk high blood pressure, type 2 diabeties, sleep apnea, and heart dease but, according to the University of Michigan Physical Education in America's public schools only 8% of elementary schools and 5.8% of middle schools provide physical education to their students daily (SHPPS 2000). Also 20% of all elementary schools in the US have cut recess to increase time in the class room (Satcher 2005). Only 11.8% of states require recess for Elementary School Children (Lee & Burgeson & Fulton & Spain 2009). Not only does physical education class provide exercise for students to help their health, but also according to the University of Michigan it has also been proven to "improve the rate of academic learning per unit of class time" (Taras 2005). Providing just 1 hour of gym class a day for students will provide them with the amount of activity need per day and also improve their test scores.
 * __Physical Activity __**
 * __Physical Education in Schools __**

 References: 

CDC, (1999, November 17). // Adolescents and young adults. //Retrieved from: [] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">CDC, (2008,October 20).// Make a difference at your school. // Retrieved from: http [|://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/keystrategies/index.htm] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">CDC, (2009, November 20). // Overweight and obesity. // Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">CDC, (2010, May10). // How much physical activity do children need?. // Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Speregen, K. (n.d.). // Physical education in america’s public schools. // Retrieved from ht[|tp://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.speregen/physical_education_and_school_performance] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The Obesity Society, (2010). // Obesity statistics //. Retrieved from: []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Lee,S, & Burgeson, C, & Fulton, J, & Spain, C. (2009). // Physical education and activity: results from the school health and programs study 2006. // // Journal of school health,77. // <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">