 | ||
|
| |    Physical Education by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. reviewed by Laura Jana, M.D., F.A.A.P. A child who is truly healthy is healthy in body, mind, and spirit. Physical health means more than just the absence of disease. It means having a body that is strong, flexible, and coordinated, and having the skills to use that body in joyful ways. If you watch three- and four-year-old children, many of them already demonstrate these fundamentals of physical health. But as children get older and spend long hours sitting in schools and doing homework, physical fitness declines, and many of them slip into an inactive, unhealthy lifestyle. In the United States, as well as many other places in the world, there's a growing awareness of the health risks posed by inactivity and being overweight. It is commonplace for people to talk about an epidemic of childhood obesity. One cause may be a decline in physical education in schools. In the past, it was common for public schools to require daily physical education. Recently, however, the number of children who have daily P.E. has dropped, so that, as of 1996, only 19 percent of high school students have at least 20 minutes of physical education a day, and fewer than half of all middle schools require three years of P.E. Why is physical education important? In the past, the focus of P.E. classes was to train children to participate in competitive sports. More recently, the focus has shifted to developing healthy habits and general fitness. The hope is that children will adopt regular physical activity as a part of their lifestyle. There are four main goals of modern physical education:
You can advocate for continued funding of physical education programs at your child's school. Just as important, you can make physical activity a regular part of your day, and perhaps one that you share with your child. In this way, you set a good example and reinforce the important physical lessons that your child--if she's lucky!--may be learning in school.
| |  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| About Us |
Contact Us |
Our Partners Privacy Policy | Ethics | Advertising Policy | Terms of Service © Copyright 2004 The Dr. Spock Company. All Rights Reserved. THIS SITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. The information drSpock.com
provides is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for
professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your health care
professional if you have a specific health concern. Mention or advertisement
of any product, service, or brand does not constitute endorsement, guarantee,
or recommendation by The Dr. Spock Company. Please read our full
Terms of Service. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
