Physical Education: Back in Action

When I was in elementary and middle school, I always dreaded having to do P.E. I hated the fact that we had to put on different clothes, play some kind of game, and be put on teams with people I sometimes didn't care for. However, I know realize how grateful I am to have done this. Today, I like to exercise and be healthy, and I think it is because I was subject to this when I was younger. Today, P.E. is now more important than ever because obesity rates with children are skyrocketing. In Arizona, schools are doing what they can to bring back P.E. and teach children the right skills when it comes to exercising. I first want to start off with some national statistics about childhood obesity:

-Mexican American boys tend to have a higher prevalence of overweight than non-Hispanic black or non-Hispanic white boys. (Surgeon General)

-Behavioral and environmental factors are large contributors to overweight and obesity and provide the greatest opportunity for actions and interventions designed for prevention and treatment. (Surgeon General)

-Overweight adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. This increases to 80% if one or more parent is overweight or obese. The most immediate consequence of overweight, as perceived by children themselves, is social discrimination. (Surgeon General)

-Physical activity declines dramatically over the course of adolescence, and girls are significantly less likely than boys to participate regularly in vigorous physical activity. (From US Department of Health and Human Services)

Some of these statistics are astonishing given everything Americans know today about health and fitness. Parents should teach their kids proper ways to be healthy, but the school should promote those values as well. I was curious to see what some schools did when it came to P.E. so I did some research.

I browsed You Tube to find some videos about P.E. and found something about a school in Phoenix. I found this and it intrigued me.




Desert Vista Elementary School is trying to this method called the "New" P.E. to get students more excited about doing physical activities. What basically happens is that they use technology and heart rate monitors and use video games like Dance Dance Revolution to get kids some physical activity during the day. I feel that doing things like this is very good for students. It gets them familiar with ways to get exercise and at the same time, makes it fun for them. If more schools did this, students may feel differently about being forced to do P.E.