There is no doubt that our world has become more obese. Many statistics show that children are growing more and more overweight. They are now suffering from many diseases that once were never thought to occur in children. These are diseases such as certain types of diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Many actions have been taken to increase the health of our children. Programs have been developed to encourage children to eat healthier and exercise more.
Schools have been required to serve healthier lunches and take unhealthy snacks out of the building. Schools are also required to make sure that students are receiving at least ninety minutes of physical activity each week.
One television show was even created and dedicated to making children healthier.
Another new program has been designed to get children fit. The program, Take 10, helps give teachers ideas on how to involve physical activity into their lessons. The program involves ten minute lessons including a warm up, an activity, and then a cool down. Each activity can be incorporated into an academic lesson.
The problem is that teachers are placed between a rock and a hard place. They are pressured for good test scores and increasing academics standards and requirements. They are also pressured to ensure that students are healthy, cared for, and happy.
While teachers will admit that it is very difficult to teach unhealthy and uncared for students, they also know that the amount of teaching time that they have is precious. Many teachers find it hard to give up class time for physical activity. Even though the activities in program such as Take 10 involve academic review, they still take class time away. Teachers must explain the activity, demonstrate the activity, ensure that all students are properly participating, and try to calm the students back down after the activity. For some teachers this is simply more trouble than they feel it is worth.
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