Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Senate Joint Resolution NO. 85
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the obesity-related morbidity costs will be approaching $147 billion per year in the United States. Given that obese children are more likely to become obese adults, this resolution promotes physical activity during each school day along with sound nutrition. It is recommended that children participate in 60 minutes of activity a day. Since the growing child spends a large portion of their day in the school environment, this resolution recommends that the local school divisions promote daily physical activity in an effort to reduce childhood obesity.
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This is a great concept to help reduce childhood obesity while promoting physical activities in schools. However, the bill seems very vague in that it does not specify how exactly the schools will go about promoting physical activity. The link for the bill is not posted, so we are unsure of the details- will there be any penalties for those schools who don't comply with promoting physical activity? How will the physical activity be measured? What about those schools who can't afford physical education programs or equipment? And will the other classes or subjects have to be cut back on or the school hours have to be extended now that the school is required to have 60 minutes of physical activity?
ReplyDeleteYes, we know the bill is very vague and that's we choose it. We wanted to be able to contribute by reaching out and supporting it in an effort to make it more involved and detailed. We apologize for not having the hyperlink to the bill, we have since fixed this issue. If you click on the "Senate Joint Resolution No. 85" found at the top of the page it will direct you to the bill. We are unsure of the exact extent that this bill will have in promoting physical activity. We will reach out to Senator Petersen along with other legislators to make this more detailed and to create more awareness. While you bring up a good point about the school requirement, the bill isn't requiring to have 60 minutes in school physical activity. It encourages 60 minutes over the whole day for the child to be physically active.
ReplyDeleteLegislators are attempting to pass laws that are to fight the obesity epidemic by educating children about making healthy food choices and exercising regularly. This is a good start but children are the projects of their parents. They may understand that they have to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day and live a physically active lifestyle, but when they return home it may be a different lifestyle. Parents are the ones who are setting the example of watching TV and playing videogames instead of going outside to play catch or build a snowman. Parents are also providing their children with three meals and snacks in-between which may include unhealthy processed foods and not enough greens. Parent education of the risk factors of feeding their children too much food and unhealthy foods needs to be addressed.
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