In todays day and age, our youth is facing a real
problem...childhood obesity, and what is the school system doing about it...
cutting gym classes and reducing play time. Children spend most of their time
in school, so the first place change needs to take place is in school. The
problem is that schools seem to be doing nothing about this issue. As an
article in the New York times reported: "Researchers
at the University of California, San Francisco, found just 20 percent of
elementary schools in San Francisco’s system were meeting the state’s
requirements: 20 minutes per day." Even elementary school children are
being deprived of playtime. I remember being in elementary school, not only did
I have gym class almost every day, but we had recess twice a day where we were
forced to go outside and play, even in the cold Michigan winter. It's sad that
children are having more and more weight issues and their recess, gym class,
and playtime is being taken away from them. Instead of helping these children,
the school system is only hurting them.
This
issue has even hit the ears of the media in Germany. While I was in Germany
over the summer, this issue was a hot topic. Children around the world are
getting more and more obese. As usual, the first country to be taken under the
loop was the United States, thanks to its reputation
of excessive obesity. When it was discovered that gym class was being
cut from many schools, no matter what grade level, everyone was appalled. Gym class
is a pretty important class in the German school system, especially until about
9th grade. The only solutions that was proposed for the 'poor' American
children was that parents have to take control over their children's health and
that the children have to get their dose of necessary weekly exercise after
school and at home.
I
completely agree with this solution. In order to start combating this issue,
families need to start taking action for their own sake and their child's sake.
The problem needs to be fixed from home. It needs to start with healthy
nutrition. This does not mean that children or even adults do not eat candy and
junk food at all, that is not realistic, but it needs to be kept to a minimum.
Daily activity, whether it's sending your kids to soccer or exercising as a
family, is a must as well. Just a 30-45 minute walk with the whole family can
do everyone a favor. Not only will the kids get some movement into their
daily routine, but also walking is good for everyone’s health. Walking is
one of the best cardiovascular activities there is. According to the Mayo
Clinic it can help you lower your blood pressure, help you lose weight, reduce
your risk of type two diabetes, and/or help you manage your type 2
diabetes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/education/even-as-schools-battle-obesity-physical-education-is-sidelined.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/walking/HQ01612
I totally agree that it's sad that schools are taking away recess and gym class time. I remember when I had to go outside in New York weather for recess and also when I came to Arizona, gym and recess were usually outdoors. I think that schools take away time for "fun" things to make time for learning to achieve high test scores. I tutor a six-year-old and if we didn't take play breaks, I could never teach him anything. He does much better paying attention and remembering spelling than when he is forced to sit still for two hours. It just makes sense that if the problem of childhood obesity is growing that they should be adding time to the school days so that kids have a chance to learn how to be active.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that childhood obesity is a growing problem. The fact of the matter is is that you have two different perspectives when it comes to this issue. The article is talking about how schools should be playing its part in a child's activity and making it more of their responsibility for the child's exercise and such. However, I definitely agree with the fact that parents should be responsible for their child's health and well-being. Yes, children love to have playtime during their school days, but parents aren't spending tuition money and all the educational expenses just to have their child play for a couple of hours a day. I agree that in some cases, like what Ashley stated, some children learn better with a slight bit of study breaks, but we also need to realize that in most cases, childhood obesity is caused by an environmental factor and most of the time, children are at home with their parents. Parents should be taking responsibility for their diet and activity. That is why there are extracurricular activities in existence for children such as afterschool karate or dance lessons.
ReplyDeleteOverall, parents should be responsible for their children and not just leave it up to the schools to provide healthier alternatives or exercise opportunities for them.
Both of you make good points. If you think about it though, in elementary school, you go to school at 8:30 or 9:00 am and you come home at like 3:30pm. That is the bigger chunk of the day. Usually kids in the US school system eat cafeteria food, or at least get some sort of snack provided to them by the school. Just chocolate milk along has over 20g of sugar in it. That little milk carton you got in school has 20g of sugar, can you believe it. A small step for the school would be, not providing chocolate milk. Give the kids plain milk or water to drink instead. And for elementary school kids recess is a must. You don't want kids to hate school starting at such a young age. They need a break. Both to run around for the sake of their own health but to be able to focus better later. Even now, when I study I need to take breaks to be able to focus better. Imagine what the little children are going through with less breaks. I don't think the US is taking a step towards the better with what they are doing, it's a step backwards.
ReplyDeleteYou all make really good points, when i was in elementary school recess was one of the main highlights of the day because it was a time you could run around outside and interact with classmates outside of a classroom setting. I Think that Dina makes a really good point that school food is not always the healthiest thing out there. More schools need to be implementing a healthier diet with fresher ingredients because i also think that all the processed foods we eat don't help the situation very much either. I know that even when I was in school, in high school we only needed one year of PE and that was it, so i think that the cuts are starting from the higher educational institutions and are just trickling down to the lower institutions. I think that another thing to factor into the equation is the fact that kids nowadays are spending a lot more time inside when they are home because they would rather be plugged into the matrix of electronics, tv, facebook and all those things that go outside and be a kid. I know that as you get older thats more and more prevalent especially with people our age. Liz makes a good point that we can't just point the finger at the schools and that parents need to also take responsibility for keeping their kids in good health. One sole person isn't to blame, i just think that as we've evolved as a society we've become more and more sedentary. Maybe one day we'll all end up like the people in Wall-e who just sit all day and have robots do everything for us.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Elizabeth about parents taking responsibility for their child health. They have control over what happens at home. I remember when I was a kid I was always outside playing after school. Today, kids are inside watching television and playing video games. Parents need to limit this. They also need to get involved in outdoor activities with their children. My parents were involved with the recreational sports/activities I participated in.
ReplyDeleteI agree that school lunches are not the healthiest. I think it also has to do with what students are allowed to buy. At most high schools and middle schools there are vending machines which supply lots of junk food to kids every day. Also budget cuts in the school system are having a profound effect on the composition of school lunches and PE classed offered. Most funding for schools is based on test scores. I think schools are more focused on meeting the test scores to get funding then providing recesses and physical education classes.