Fitness Collaboration to Fight Childhood Obesity

Most people can agree that physical activity is vital to our health and living a long life, but this does not mean everyone engages in exercise and eats well-balanced, nutritional meals. Obesity seems to be on the high rise, not just with adults, but with children, as well. These youngsters are the future of our generation, of the world, and how are we supposed to witness their potential if they never make it past their formative years due to obesity, poor diet, and almost no physical exercise? Staying active are of the utmost importance for the development of growing children. For them to achieve their goals and fulfill their dreams, whatever they may be, it all starts with exercise.

Exercise gives them the energy to do things productively on a day-to-day basis. However, while this sounds all poetic and inspirational, the reality of it is that many schools lack fitness education programs. People do not realize just how crucial a physical education class is as opposed to a Biology class, an English class, or a Math class. Fitness education is just as important. Why do people work out? Simple. To boost their metabolism and have more energy throughout the day and just to, overall, feel good about them selves. That is our goal for the children of America.

How can this goal be reached? Former President Bill Clinton, co-founder of The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, launched The Fit for a Healthier Generation Campaign. This fitness campaign is to get kids moving with BOKS, an initiative of Reebok, celebrity trainers Bob Harper, Tara Stiles, Billy Blanks, and global fitness brand Zumba Fitness. This campaign has 3-5 minute recorded DVDs that classrooms can use as physical activity breaks. This can even be used at home for parents to get their children active. The goal is to get the kids up and moving. This sounds fun right? Exactly! Because exercise should be fun, especially for kids. These come at no cost as BOKS, a fitness program, will sponsor the distribution of over 30,000 of these DVDs to communities across the country. It consists of simple, classroom, and program-appropriate exercises to get the kids’ heart rates up and just have some fun.

Clinton made it known that “less than 4 percent of elementary schools, 8 percent of middle schools, and 2 percent of high schools provide opportunities for daily physical education” (Mazzulo, 2012). These are alarmingly low percentages. No wonder our country is in danger of tripling its obesity rates in 10-20 years. We need to work on the most important demographic of this issue: children. Who knows? These kids could be the next fitness professionals! Or even a future President of the United States. Through this campaign and fitness education program, kids can learn the benefits of living fit and leading healthier lives.

Was this Article Helpful?

If this article was helpful to you, please consider linking this article to your own blog or sharing this through the social buttons below. You will also find other great articles at “Our Team’s News“.

#Children #Exercise #Fitness Education #Fitness Program #Health Education #Obesity #Physical Education

About
Latest Posts

FPO Team

We exist to give a voice to Fitness Professionals around the world in order to help exchange information and build our community. We, professionals, are the answer to many of the World's health concerns. By educating ourselves, and helping one-another, we can create a better world for ourselves and those around us.