According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health care costs for obesity-related morbidity may soon approach $147 billion per year in the United States. In order to impede this growing problem, Senator J. Chapman Petersen (D) of Virginia District 34 is taking action. He is proposing a bill to increase physical activity and solid nutrition in Virginia public schools to reduce childhood obesity.
The American Heart Association states that "Today about 25 million kids and teens in the U.S. are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. That’s nearly one in every three young people."
This graph is from The Virginia Department of Health and depicts the obesity rates for selected states.
The Senate Joint Resolution bill No. 85 states 60 minutes of physical activity a day and healthy nutrition is strongly encouraged to be implemented in public schools. These changes are important because school age children spend the majority of their week in school. Some children may not have the opportunity to engage in healthy lifestyle choices in their home environment.
Therefore, involvement in physical activity during school hours is necessary to ensure that the child develops a healthy lifestyle.
This graph is from The Virginia Department of Health and depicts the obesity rates for selected states. 
147 billion dollars is an unfathomable amount of money. We found the statistics that accompany this bill alarming and concerning. With the growing morbidly obese population in our country, targeting children is a great objective. If these children learn from an early age the proper way to wellness, then maybe something can be done to slow this growing epidemic. These objectives can be easily implemented if schools would be flexible with their scheduling and were taught of the importance of their children's physical and psychosocial health.
ReplyDeleteA few questions came to mind when reading the information about what this bill is. Would the one hour a day of physical activity have specific guidelines? Additionally, how would this affect schools that already have physical education programs? With healthcare promotion and prevention, this bill can be successfully applied to schools and we have confidence that it will make a difference.
The statistics that you outlined about childhood obesity rates and healthcare costs associated with it are alarming. We believe that schools need to do more to help combat this growing epidemic. Introducing healthy lifestyles early on in life can be very beneficial for building the foundations for a healthy and active child.
ReplyDeleteWe do think that all foods served in the school cafeteria need to be nutritious and balanced, not just offering one "healthy option" for lunch. This in turn would force schools to increase their food budget or raise the prices of lunches for students, which could pose some problems. Increasing time for physical activity to 60 minutes is another great way for schools to help in reducing childhood obesity levels. As Elizabeth mentioned, we question whether there would be specific guidelines on what should be included during that hour of physical activity? Hopefully if this bill is passed funds can be reallocated from money used to treat obesity and its side effects to helping schools prevent obesity in children.
In reference to Elizabeth, we feel very strongly about this bill and a lot of our peers have expressed interest and support. Unfortunately, this bill did not specify any guidelines to the 60 minutes of activity proposal. However, as a group, we think that this physical activity should include programs set by the school that will increase the children's heart rates. As for schools that already have physical activity programs in place, this bill will make sure there is at least a 60 minute minimum program. This bill also recommends that each public school put in place a healthy nutrition program to encourage healthy eating habits. Some schools may already have a physical education program in place but may need improvement in their school nutrition. We support this bill but we also think that there are aspects that need to be modified before it is enacted.
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