Our plan is to contact key stakeholders such as Virginia Senator, J. Chapman Petersen; two public school superintendents and three physical education teachers throughout the state from different levels of education.
Time Magazine states that, "Pediatricians are diagnosing type 2 diabetes — what used to be known as adult-onset diabetes — in heavy children. And studies show that childhood obesity is significantly associated with heart disease in adulthood." The childhood obesity epidemic is compounding an already overburdened healthcare system. Although some statistics show the levels of childhood obesity are leveling off, this doesn't mean the epidemic has stopped. This problem still needs to be addressed with significant amounts of time, energy and money.
Without this, the effects of childhood obesity on the public health system will continue to grow. According to David Ludwig, an obesity researcher at Children's Hospital Boston, "The childhood obesity epidemic is a tsunami, we're beginning to see the wave hitting the shore."
As others have stated, this bill is a great idea. Hopefully, this bill will pass and put a dent in childhood obesity. I especially like the idea of promoting physical activity through out the school day. Recently, I have spent a good chunk of time at the local schools and have witnessed first hand what lack of physical activity does to children. Due to the recent snow, children have not been allowed outside now for weeks. Their pent up energy leads to distracting behaviors and is not allowing them to be healthy. Certain weather conditions obviously cannot be changed, but promoting healthy activity all day is a start. Maybe have gym class multiple times a day, but in shorter increments?
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I really like your action plan idea about what constitutes healthy nutrition. Any given school cafeteria offers far too many unhealthy choices. I think the first step would be changing the menu at schools to reflect a more balanced diet. Anyway, good blog topic.
This is a very important topic and I am so impressed with your work! I will be following as you move forward to convince other Virginians that our children are in danger of a lifetime of ill health.
ReplyDeleteIn response to group 2's comment, we agree with most of the ideas that you brought up except one. What we do not necessarily agree with is having multiple physical activity classes during the day. We think that there should be one class a day that dedicates at least 60 minutes to physical activity. Also, we believe that there should be a health education class implemented separately from physical education time.
ReplyDeleteDr. Sobel, thank you for following our blog. We appreciate all of your great feedback.
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