Him 1 Corey Him Professor Davidson COR120 Critical Reading and Writing 13 February 2022 Millennials (age 26-41) are considered the last generation to spend their childhood playing outside. Technology has quickly evolved in the past few decades meaning children have different toys to play with. Today’s children are spending their free time outside of school playing video games, chatting online, and are on social media. They’re not running outside or partaking in sports as much as previous generations of youth. Sedentary activities have led children to be less physically active which can cascade to health issues. Obesity is a rising pandemic especially amongst children and adolescents. Childhood obesity leads to long-term health problems and comorbid conditions. Prevention is key when it comes to health. Schools providing education on exercise will improve children’s conditions, enhance their knowledge of the health benefits, and create healthy habits into adulthood. Due to the increase sedentary lifestyles of today’s student, schools should make physical education mandatory to promote healthy living. Obesity in childhood creates long lasting effects into adulthood. The numbers have increased in the past decade with “data from 2011 to 2012 demonstrating an increase in severe obesity among children and adolescents in the previous 14 years,” (Skinner et al., 2016). Children are spending more on screen time then they are outdoors playing. Obesity is correlated with negative effects on the body. Metabolic, cardiovascular, and endocrine dysfunction is common later in life. Psychological effects like depression, low self-esteem, and other behavioral Him 2 issues tend to tack itself to obesity. It creates a cycle where students will continue to recede to their screens because it is what’s comfortable. In the 21st century weight related issues from unhealthy lifestyle are all too common with a global rate of 18% falling into the obese category, (Ban-Issa et al., 2019). “Children and adolescents with severe obesity will require novel and intensive efforts for long-term obesity improvement. With scarce resources, and increasing costs of comorbid conditions, there is an urgent need for targeted interventions to stem the rise in severe obesity among children, in addition to policies and clinical efforts designed to prevent obesity,” (Skinner et al., 2016). Prevention and management is key to prevent obesity. Exercise in school will aid in decreasing obesity and improving health of students. Exercise is effective for preventing weight gain and possible comorbidities. “A significant number of studies indicated that regular participation in physical activity could be beneficial for the immune system, and it also protects the body against cardiovascular diseases and aids the prevention, treatment and control of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and depression,” (Goudas 2021). Exercise is beneficial for both mind and body. Several studies have been done to show the positive effects on children. One study designed for preschool children in Thailand was an exercise program “including a 15-min walk before beginning the morning class and a 20-min aerobic dance session after the afternoon nap, 3 times a week,” (MoSuwan et al.,1998) for 30 weeks. Their weight and height were measured 4 times throughout the study and showed a decrease of almost 4% for BMI by the end. The data shows that through the exercise program it can prevent BMI gain in school-grade children. Another study was done on children with intellectual disabilities focused on aerobic capacity, strength, and fundamental movement skills. They are more likely to suffer from obesity and its secondary health conditions. A structured learning environment at school gave parents and students the necessary resource to Him 3 participate in physical activity that they couldn’t do elsewhere. They were eventually able to move from individual therapy to group sessions. It gave the children their own community and in-person interaction with peers their age. Physical education provides a learning environment where students can work together in becoming healthy. Knowledge is power. Knowledge gives people the ability to make more well-informed choices which includes choosing to exercise. Schools that structure critical learning in physical education supports their students to make their own decisions. “Compared with schools teaching a traditional curriculum, those that integrated self-efficacy concepts into their curricula reported lower consumption of sweetened drinks and smaller sized fast-food meals and higher intentional walking for exercise,” (Ban-Issa et al., 2019) An engaging learning process that allows students to convert theory into practice and is applicable to real life was more effective. They learned the benefits of physical activity and effective goal setting. They are aware of the nutritional values they consume and choose the better option. “The findings of previous studies confirmed that students’ health-related knowledge effectively contributes to their participation in after school physical activity,” (Goudas 2021). When they know the benefits of how and why movement is important, they are more likely to find ways to participate. Skills learned in physical education can be applicable to other areas of life. “PE is the ideal environment for teaching strategies such as goal setting, self-assessment and selfmonitoring,” (Goudas 2021). Physical education has been shown to increase concentration during lessons in the classroom setting (Hind et al., 2014). Education can also teach students how to manage and prevent pain. Knee pain bothers a third of adolescents and can become a longlasting condition. “Patellofemoral pain affects 6-7% and is provoked by activities of daily living such as stair climbing and squatting and 25% will have significant symptoms even 16 years after Him 4 treatment,” (Rathleff et al., 2015). Those under guidance of patient education and exercise therapy saw better results in treatment and did not use medication or other therapies afterwards. They saw a positive relationship between exercise and recovery and followed through with home-based sessions. Understanding what is happening to their body and how to manage pain is useful information. “This finding confirmed Ennis’s suggestion that a PE program that includes health-related knowledge combined with cognitive assignments can be beneficial for their learning development,” (Goudas 2021). Everyone is unique and need to learn what works for them. Teaching children about health and its application can give them the needed push to start their own health journey. Modern times promote a sedentary lifestyle that schools need to combat by providing physical education in their curriculum. Physical education in schools will improve students’ health, increase their knowledge, and create habits to become healthy adults. A sedentary lifestyle can lead to obesity and other health issues that’s harder to shake off once they reach adulthood. This can be combated by giving students the necessary tools and resource to prevent them. Children need to learn why and how they should be exercising. Curriculum for PE can be remodeled to give students a positive relationship with exercise that they take into their future. Him 5 References Bani-Issa, Wegdan, et al. “The Influence of Parents and Schools on Adolescents’ Perceived Diet and Exercise Self-Efficacy: A School-Based Sample from the United Arab Emirates.” Journal of Transcultural Nursing, vol. 31, no. 5, 2019, pp. 479–491., https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659619876686. Bellamy, J., et al. “Feasibility of a School‐Based Exercise Intervention for Children with Intellectual Disability to Reduce Cardio‐Metabolic Risk.” Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, vol. 64, no. 1, 2019, pp. 7–17., https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12690. Hind, Karen, et al. “Developing Interventions for Children’s Exercise (Dice): A Pilot Evaluation of School-Based Exercise Interventions for Primary School Children Aged 7 to 8 Years.” Journal of Physical Activity and Health, vol. 11, no. 4, 2014, pp. 699–704., https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2012-0116. Mo-suwan, L, et al. “Effects of a Controlled Trial of a School-Based Exercise Program on the Obesity Indexes of Preschool Children.” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 68, no. 5, 1998, pp. 1006–1011., https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/68.5.1006. Rathleff, M S, et al. “Exercise during School Hours When Added to Patient Education Improves Outcome for 2 Years in Adolescent Patellofemoral Pain: A Cluster Randomised Trial.” British Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 49, no. 6, 2014, pp. 406–412., https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2014-093929. Skinner, Asheley Cockrell, et al. “Prevalence of Obesity and Severe Obesity in US Children, 1999-2014.” Obesity, vol. 24, no. 5, 2016, pp. 1116–1123., https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.21497. Syrmpas, Ioannis, and Marios Goudas. “Elementary Students’ Knowledge Development during the Implementation of ‘after School Exercise’ Program.” Children, vol. 8, no. 3, 2021, p. 248., https://doi.org/10.3390/children8030248.
