Twice as many children today and almost 3 times as many teens are overweight as in 1980. More than 65% of all people age 20 and older are overweight or obese. About 35 million of today's 85 million children will eventually die from heart and blood vessel disease (American Heart Association statistics) Getting our kids active is extremely important. Physical Education benefits students in the following ways:
•Increases fitness levels
•Develops and encourages creativity
•Develops positive self-esteem
•Improves motor, social and emotional skills
•Increases muscular endurance and flexibility
•Increases body awareness
•Reduces risk for specific health problems including; coronary heart disease, hypertension, colon cancer, and depression, as well as lower all-cause death rates. ( CDC 1990 Youth Risk Behavior Survey)
•Physically fit kids perform better academically.(CDE 2002 Fitness and Academic Performance Study)
•And most importantly, it's fun!!!
"Of all subjects taught in school, Physical Education is the only subject which, by the very nature of its content, has the potential to affect how a person will feel every moment of every day for the rest of his or her life"....Allen Russell