Childhood Obesity
Will More Recess At School Help?
With 12.5 million obese children in the country, three times more than 30 years
ago, maybe the time has come to do something about childhood obesity. My plan is pretty
basic, feed the kids good healthy food and send them outdoors to play.
By that I mean junk food and TV are the cause of so much of it, these two are both easy to control if we wanted to. Habits can be changed, kids can learn, a little at a time, to like healthy food. They can also learn that exercise is more fun than playing video games.
Should the schools also be helping us keep our children healthy? Should they be serving healthier food? Should the kids be allowed out for more recess everyday? I would have to say yes to all of these. There is nothing wrong with good nutrition in school and certainly nothing wrong with a little more outdoor activity.
The National Association for Sport and Physical Education recommends at least twenty minutes of recess per day. A nationwide survey of school principals suggest that this is barely being met, with the results showing between 16-30 minutes a day. Is this really enough? Not in my mind, not even close.
Should this be regulated by state governments or left in the hands of school administrators as it is now in most places? Very few states have laws, or rules, that govern recess time at school. If they did maybe we could get a handle on all this childhood obesity. Just a thought to consider, but whatever it is all these overweight kids need they sure aren't getting it at home.
Some of the states that have laws, rules or guidelines about recess at
school are
- Texas: The Texas legislature told the Board of Education that it could require schools to have 30 minute recesses, if they wanted to.
- Indiana: Indiana lawmakers ordered all local school boards to make sure all the kids were physically active every day, in one way or another.
- Arkansas: The lawmakers, by adopting a resolution, urged school boards to provide a ten minute recess both morning and afternoon.
- Connecticut: Here the schools are required to provide a "a period of physical exercise" everyday.
- Oklahoma: In this state it is required that all students, k-5, get at least 60 minutes of physical activity a week.
So that's pretty much what our state governments think about recess and physical activity for our youth. Should they be doing more or should this be left up to the local school boards and individual school principals? Childhood obesity is a problem for all of us, we need to find a way to deal with it.
We would love to hear your views on this. Does your child get enough exercise at school or should there be more? If more is needed how do we make it happen?
Should it concern our schools?
What are your thoughts.
What Other Visitors Have Said
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
More Recess At Knox Elementary school in Chandler Arizona my child gets two 20 minute recess sessions a day. The teachers love this because the kids are much more ...
Obesity In Kids Obesity in kids truly is a big deal and it’s time we all start doing something about it. In Arizona one third of our kids are obese and we are 27th in ...
Kids Need More Excercise. I'm one for seeing to it that kids get more time out doors to run, play and do fun activities. I'm not real keen on more government intervention but then ...
Related pages at Parenting Magic
Motivate Your Child :
Keeping Kids Busy :
Unfit Youth
Feeding A Baby :
Kids Eating Healthy :
Children And Sports
Activities On A Budget :
Overweight Children :
Help Your Child Stay Fit
