Are kids today healthy or unhealthy? I guess it depends on how you look at it.
On November 25, The Press-Enterprise published two stories on the topic. The first praised Riverside, Calif., county’s students for scoring better than the state average on the 2008 California Physical Fitness Test. The annual test rates the percentage of children who score within the Healthy Fitness Zone, a measure of reasonable levels of fitness that can be achieved in six areas: aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength and endurance, trunk strength and flexibility, upper-body strength and endurance, and flexibility. Overall, said the article’s author, Riverside County fifth- and seventh-graders did slightly better than the state average.
The second story, however, criticized the county’s students for having made only small gains in physical fitness, with two in three children still not meeting fitness standards. This, despite the fact that some schools have made fitness a priority. One in particular, Eisenhower High School in Rialto, “rivals most fitness clubs in the variety and number of exercise classes it offers,” says the article’s authors.
The reality is that only one in three students in California meet the state’s basic physical fitness requirements, which is consistent with the national average. Healthy or unhealthy? No matter how it’s reported, the answer is definitely “unhealthy”!
What are we going to do about it? We need to ensure that kids get the information they need to make healthy choices, and that they are pushed into programs that improve their fitness levels. An example of this is an after-school program held at six elementary schools in Marion, Ga. Hosted by the Boys & Girls Club of Marion, the program is available from the end of the school day until 6 or 7 p.m., depending on the school. Rather than “riding the bus home to do nothing,” the students get homework help and tips on nutritious eating and fitness.
This is an idea that all fitness centers could capitalize on. How about yours? It’s a matter of making our nation’s kids healthy.
2 comments:
I found this post interesting in that it (sadly)reflects the current state of physical education in school. PE class is one of the least favorite classes in school. Non-athletically oriented kids think it's demeaning and dumb. The programs are under-funded (thank you No Child Left Behind) and as a result the instructors have little support for building programs that might actually result in their students enjoying the fun of movement and the benefit of life-long fitness.
I just posted a blog (The CLUE) on "Why Girls Hate PE...And Why We should Care" on www.gamebike.com. If you are interested in reading, I would like to read your comments.
Art
GameBike
Thanks for your comments, Art. I spend more time than I like to admit at a high school campus, since my husband is an assistant principal. Prior to that, he ran the NJROTC program, and the students enrolled in that elective qualify to receive PE credit (at least for now; that's on the table).
I couldn't agree with you more about the issue with girls in PE. When I was in high school, PE was not co-ed, and the girls always left the field a little earlier to allow us a little more time to get cleaned up for the next class (although I remember it still wasn't enough!).
Guys and girls are truly a different breed. You can see this just by the way they dress at school. The girls, at least most of them, put effort into their clothes, hair, etc., The boys, well, they're just boys with baggy jeans.
I passed along your blog on your site, The Clue, to my husband and asked him if he or his coaches had any perspective. One coach said that "P.E. will truly be fixed only when girls and boys are separate again." Their school does separate the boys and girls in May (although I'm not sure why), and, according to the coach, "It is wonderful; It is like when I went to school!" Both the administrators and other coaches/teachers seem to be in favor of doing away with coed P.E., so that looks to be a positive sign at their school, anyway.
As for your "sista survey," here are some thoughts: First, my AP husband says that hair-dryers wouldn't last one day in the girls gym locker room. While the girls seem to care about their own personal appearance, they clearly don't care about the appearance or the upkeep of where they primp. He says, the kids destroy the locker rooms.
Second, the school district to which I refer in my blog has just been told they will receive another substantial budget cut in the 2009/2010 school year. They can't afford to keep their teachers, much less purchase fitness equipment. Sad, I know. There are many fitness centers that actually donate equipment to local schools, and I've suggested they look into this.
Third, while it's true that high school girls today don't have the same ideas about their weight than we did many years ago (for instance, I wouldn't wear jeans down to my pelvis bones with a stomach that rolled over them), I think there are already too many problems with girls feeling overly concerned about their body image instead of their health. What we really need to do is convince these kids about the importance of their health in the long term and how physical fitness plays a role. A long shot, I know!
I think the time factor is a good suggestion. With the average class period lasting 54 minutes, girls can easily get a good work out in 30 minutes, allowing 5 to 10 minutes to dress for P.E., and an additional 14 to 19 to get ready for their next class. That's even a lot of prep time, so you could extend the workout period to 35 minutes.
But, the best suggestion yet would be to implement some fun programming for P.E. classes. When my husband ran the NJROTC program, they did their share of running laps, doing calisthenics, etc. But more often than not, they would play games. Fun things, like frisbee football and related games. There are tons of sites online that provide the directions and rules for some really fun games that can be played both indoors and out.
Post a Comment