The Importance of Quality Physical Education

The greatest health risk affecting America’s children today is not a horrible disease such as Cancer or Leukemia. It is actually an illness that is almost 100% preventable; it is Obesity. The number of overweight children in the United States has risen dramatically since the early 1960s. In 1960 the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey reported that out of children ages 6-11, 4% were overweight, and out of children ages 12-19, 5% were overweight. In 2000, the same survey reported that children age 6-11, were 15.3% overweight, and in the 12-19 age range, 15.5% were overweight (Irwin, Symons, & Kerr).

The increasing percentage of youth who are becoming overweight or obese has become a dangerous epidemic in America. Many illnesses associated with Obesity, and previously only applicable to adults, are being seen in very young children. For the first time in history, because of overweight and obesity, today’s young people may live shorter lives than their parents.

The 1996 Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health stated that physical activity is vitally important in reducing chronic diseases such as Obesity. Physical Education programs do not only provide children with physical activity, but also provide the skills and knowledge necessary to continue an active lifestyle through adulthood. There are many problems with the traditional models of physical education, and better quality programs are desperately needed in order to make a significant impact on the Childhood Obesity epidemic.

The ever increasing levels of Childhood Obesity and related diseases are an issue that has the attention of health and physical activity groups, and government alike. Many of these institutions agree that quality physical education can be the most powerful weapon available in the fight against youth obesity.