Did you know that 1 in every 3 kids ages 2-19 are considered overweight or obese?(Wilson,2013) Several factors can go into obesity such as not eating enough fruits and vegetables, drinking too many carbonated beverages, or eating too much junk food. Although these factors play a major role in this problem, the leading problem to childhood obesity is lack of exercise. According to Stanford University School of Medicine, results from a survey through 1988-2010 showed a huge increase in obesity and inactivity, but not in overall number of calories consumed. Many people make the argument that exercise is a waste of time for students because it cuts into their education. However, Exercising in School has many positive effects on students.
Health Conditions
First, Exercising in school improves the health conditions of students. One way that it does this is by helping students maintain a healthy weight. Evidence from different studies have shown that the greatest factor for weight loss or maintaining a certain weight is through physical activity. The way that a human can maintain their weight is by eating the same amount of calories in a day as their body will burn off. The way one can lose weight is by consuming less calories than ones body burns off. So, even though diet can be an important factor going into maintaining weight, it wouldn 't matter as much as long as students get some exercise during the day. Also, diet isn 't as important with students because most kids have such a high metabolism that the things they put into their body doesn 't have as big of an effect as it would on adults. Another way it improves the health conditions of students is by keeping their bones strong and muscles toned. Most people think that exercising only benefits gain in muscle. However, It can also be good for your bones. Young women and men who exercise regularly generally achieve greater peak bone mass (maximum bone density and strength) than those who do not(NIH, 2015). Bones start to break down for adults as they get older which makes it harder for them to function. Exercising on a regular basis can prevent this breakdown and make it easier on someone 's body as they get older. This in return will hopefully allow people to function longer. Besides being able to function, many people die at younger ages due to health related diseases. Exercising can reduce many of these diseases. The two leading causes of death in the US are heart disease and stroke. Being engaged in regular physical activity can lower both blood pressure and cholesterol levels. This puts people at lower risks of getting these diseases. So it is easy to see that exercising in school can and will improve health conditions of students. It will help them maintain their weight, keep strong bones and toned muscles, and reduce the chances of acquiring a health related disease. Mood Another way that Exercising in school has a positive effect on students is by improving their moods. One way that students can improve their mood is by alleviating stress. Stress is something that everyone deals with at some point. Exercising in school would give students an opportunity to get rid of any stress they might have by releasing endorphins. Endorphins are the hormones we have in our bodies that affect receptors in the brain. Thus, meaning that when these hormones are released, it is relieving the stress our bodies have built up. By releasing these endorphins, our body is also able to ease depression and level out anxiety. I know from personal experience that if …show more content…
These are the neurotransmitters responsible for attention. One of the other things I stated it is responsible for is memory, which is another way exercise has positive effects on students learning. Memory is key when it comes to learning. Students are required to study various subjects throughout the school day. It can be difficult at times to obtain all of the information from each subject. So, if students are able to expand their brains memory capacity, it will result in them making better grades. This shows that exercise can improve students learning abilities. It expands the brains learning abilities, improves alertness and attentiveness, and improves