This article on physical activity from USA Today describes how important physical education and physical activity is for our elementary aged children. Physical education is not just a time for students to get exercise and run around, it teaches them much more. This article explains how physical education class teaches kids persistence, resilience, positive thinking, and how to stay healthy and live a healthy life. Physical education engages the whole child and promotes their physical and mental health and well being. Children are becoming more inactive due to the booming of technology. The article not only talks about the importance of physical education in schools, but how the funding for this class is at an all time low. Without physical education class in schools, children are lacking the knowledge they need for a healthy lifestyle which minimizes the activity in a child’s daily life putting them at risk for life-threatening diseases and depriving them of all the mental/cognitive benefits that come from exercise. Teachers can address the need of physical education through lessons in the classroom. If a student is not receiving or participating in physical education, teachers can incorporate movement activities into their daily lessons. Teachers also need to use the day for teachable moments in explaining the importance of physical activity and a healthy lifestyle to help our brains become strong to learn. Instruction in the classroom is evolving, and teachers need to be more knowledgeable of the benefits of movement throughout lessons. Teachers can use the knowledge and lessons in this article to incorporate movement breaks during class, or add in an exercise to help teach/learn a new topic. For example, instead of sitting in their seats and skip counting, teachers can teach third graders to jump for each number while skip counting. Physical activity has such a positive impact on children and their learning.

This article talks about ways to keep children physically healthy. It explains the benefits and elements of fitness and ways to keep children fit. It is important to keep children fit and explain to them how important it is to stay active. This article can be used for younger children to explain why being active is important especially in a time where children are so invested in technology. 

            Research shows that maintaining healthy habits will help us live longer and many of those added years from sticking with health habits are free of common chronic disease. Some important habits to follow are eating a diet high in plants and low in fat, exercising a moderate to vigorous amount for several hours a week, maintaining a health body weight, not smoking, and consuming no more than one alcoholic beverage a day. It may be challenging to follow these habits, but it really proves to show a healthier and longer life. But, it is important to note that it is not about elongating lifespan, it is about extending health span.

                        This article is relevant to teachers because they should be not only promoting health habits, but also be models of those habits. Children will only follow certain actions if they are able to mimic those they look up to or see every day. Teachers actively involving exercise/ movement, healthy food promotion, and prevention of substance abuse—a stronger future we will have from our children.

This article is short but takes you through why people gain weight, which is normally due to increased calorie intake and weight loss is vice versa. It is said that exercise has a benefit of reducing risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The article then takes you through different everyday activities that could be required an exercise as well as multiple sporting activities that are required exercise. It then says that exercising can always be done all at one time or throughout the day. 

 

Rowan Cheshire, an article by BBC Sport, was left with no choice but to retire at 24 after many injuries, saying her body just couldn’t keep up anymore. After a horrific crash prior to the 2014 winter Olympics she suffered a severe concussion and broken nose. She did go on to compete in the 2018 winter Olympics, but she is now calling it quits. Citing her mental health as well as physical. Reading this article to a class of elementary students would be very eye opening to me. Promoting physical well-being and mental health. This article to lead to activities relating to using the correct form, and equipment when playing sports. This article would be something students would probably be interested in reading as well. 

 Activity Prescriptions’ for Children. Retrieved February 24, 2020, from https://www.healthline.com/health-news/pediatricians-hand-out-physical-activity-prescriptions-to-children

This article on physical activity from Healthline details how pediatricians are being urged to start writing “exercise prescriptions” for the children they see in their office.  The recommendation, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) titled Physical Activity Assessment and Counseling in Pediatric Clinical Settings, encourages pediatricians to go beyond simply recommending that kids get exercise and take the step of actually issuing a prescription for physical activity. Only 1 in 4 children reports getting the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity per day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that only slightly more than a quarter of teens in the United States are getting the recommended amount of activity per day. With technology on the rise, more students are spending time in front of a screen instead of being active or outdoors. Physical activity in the school day has been compromised by a push toward more ‘academic’ subjects. The importance of this clinical report is giving the pediatrician the tools to dive deeper, to offer more specific recommendations in terms of how much moderate to vigorous physical activity a child should achieve. The topic of physical activity is important for teachers because physical activity in the school day improves concentration and attention, improves academic performance, improves behavior, and helps children and adolescents adopt habits for lifelong health. Getting students to be active helps them to learn and stay healthy.