daily physical education
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
1
Daily Physical Education
A recent document by the World Health Organization on diet, nutrition, and the prevention of chronic disease, details the increase of human and economic problems linked to poor diet and insufficient physical activity. Interestingly, this document comes at a time when obesity and inactivity amongst Canadian children are at an all-time high. In Canada, the average amount of time in a school week that is devoted to physical education is less than one hour. Yet physical education provides a method of teaching children how to become active, healthy adults. Daily physical education in schools would address the concerns of disease prevention and physical inactivity, and promote lifetime wellness.
Canadian children are getting fatter. Recent studies published by the Alberta Public Health Association state "the prevalence of childhood overweight tripled among boys (11-33%), and doubled among girls (13-27%) from 1981-1996 in Canada." (1) Chronic diseases like cancer and diabetes are linked to obesity. Engaging children in daily physical education where they are involved in active play will address the problem of overweight children. Daily physical activity that increases endurance, strength, and flexibility and promotes disease prevention, will help fit children become fit adults...