Why physical education is important for adolescents.

Importance of Physical Education in Adolescents

Introduction of the

In many schools around the world , there is an inadequate physical activity for students that pose a serious public health problem Regular activity sustained over several years contributes to weight control and protection from cardiovascular disease , diabetes , and other chronic diseases (ACSM 1998 . The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance (YRBS ) system provides the most complete information regarding physical ability habits of adolescents and young people . Using this system , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC ) track six youth behavior , which includes physical

activity . Preliminary results from the 2001 YRBS survey (MSBE in press ) indicate that 85 percent of adolescents in a certain state in the United States performed some vigorous activity at one day a week for 20 minutes , but only 27 percent indicated five or more days of moderate activity . While this study comes from only one state , the same result of physical activity levels has also been observed in national averages

This shortage of physical activity among adolescents in the U .S . was attributed to an excess of sedentary behavior . In a certain survey , an astounding 53 percent of the students surveyed reported watching two or more hours of television on a typical school night . Of those , 15 percent watched four or more hours . Such survey significantly proves no difference from other American children in their television viewing habits (MSBE in press

Physical education class is where students should be learning the necessary knowledge and skills to be physically active , yet physical education is not available to students as fully as it should be . In 2001 (MSBE 2001 ) published a data that majority of elementary schools in the U .S . offer physical education classes for an average of two days per week , for an average of 60 minutes per week . Half of middle school students receive physical education five days per week , for an average of 48 minutes per week for than 25 weeks during the school year . The other half unfortunately receives far less than that . According to (MSBE 2001 , only 29 percent of high school students reported having daily physical education classes . In the U .S , 29 percent of adolescents in grades 9-12 participated in daily physical education in 1999 as compared with 42 percent in 1991 (14

Participation in organized sports provides another opportunity for physical activity . MSBE (2001 ) found that 61 percent of 9-12 graders in Michigan reported playing on one or more sports teams . MSBE (2001 added that African-American and Hispanic high school students were less likely with 48 percent compared to Caucasians with 52 percent to play on sports teams

Despite several studies showing that most youth perform some vigorous activities , there are still a significant number of adolescents who do not participate in any regular physical activity . Their reasons include the unavailability of physical education classes , limited spots on school-sponsored teams , and the lack of resources for communities in providing recreational teams . Others , on the contrary , may choose not to participate...