Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids

1007 Words3 Pages

Historically, those who were fat and overweight meant they were likely to survive through undernourishment and infection. But now, there are many health related risks of being overweight, some being; cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, asthma and heart disease (Ebbeling, Pawlak, Ludwig 2002). Because of these health issues, programs are being promoted in schools by the government to lower the obesity rate in the United States. Healthy People 2020 and SPARK (Sports, play, and Active Recreation for Kids) are creating programs for teachers and families to educate themselves and convince people to get up and go play outside and be active. SPARK is also working with the CDC to incorporate school health programs that teach students and teachers how to eat, and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The CDC states that “Health education provides students with opportunities to acquire the knowledge, attitude, and skills necessary for making health-promoting decisions, achieving health literacy, adopting health-enhancing behaviors, and promoting the health of others (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention 2013). Health education addresses topics like alcohol/ drug use, healthy eating/nutrition, mental and emotional health, personal health and wellness, physical activity, safety and injury prevention, sexual health, tobacco use and violence prevention (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention 2013).

Not only does SPARK incorporate health programs but it also offers many advantages to school programs that create fun activities for physical movement during the day. They offer programs like Physical education classes, classroom activities and recess, after school programs, early childhood development to teachers and recreation...

... middle of paper ...

...n children for 24 years. The SPARK team will continue to research new ideas and activates that appeal to children and teachers so that they can always be motivated to play games with friends and get in shape at the same time. SPARK strives to create a common goal which is to promote and teach children how to live a healthy life style.

Resources

Ebbeling, C. B., Pawlak, D. B., & Ludwig, D. S. (2002). Childhood obesity: public-health crisis, common sense cure. The lancet, 360(9331), 473-482.

Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). Components of Coordinated School Health. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/cshp/components.htm

SPARK Physical Education Curriculum. (n.d.). K-12 Physical Education Programs, & Elementary School PE Curriculum. Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://www.sparkpe.org/physical-education/

More about Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids

Open Document