Running Around Physical Education
It is no secret that America has become an overweight country, yet having mandatory physical education is still a growing debate in the U.S. Physical education can help the emergent obesity rates, along with many other problems that exercise aids. Most students that are not in a sport are not receiving the exercise that they need to be healthy. P.E. should be a required course for all students that are not participating in a physical school sport already.
Physical education classes are necessary in schools because they can help reduce obesity rates in the U.S. and keep children in better shape. According to Time Magazine, one in three U.S. children is overweight or obese (Rochman). With America’s obesity rates continuously increasing, the government should do whatever they can to lower these rates, and mandatory P.E. is a step they can take. Lately, children are becoming lazier, eating worse, and playing too many video games, all things that can contribute to being overweight. Being overweight or obese can lead to serious health issues, like high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and gallbladder disease. In the article “Va. Senate Approves Requiring Physical Education,” the author claims that doctors are finding more obese-related diseases in young patients, like Type 2 Diabetes and cardiac disease, which were only found in adults before. One doctor even had a patient that weighed 200 pounds at the age of 11, and his obese weight caused him to have an enlarged heart (Sampson). These are very serious issues and it is frightening that people are being affected by them at such young ages. The leading causes of obesity are taking in more calories than they burn off, and having an inactive lifestyle. Having physical education can help the inactive lifestyle issue. Stated in the article “Physical Education in America’s Public Schools,” “less that 25% of children are engaged in 30 minutes of any type of daily physical activity,” (Speregen). This is the minimum amount of exercise that everyone is supposed to acquire each day. If physical education was obligatory, it would be ensured that children are receiving at least this amount every day. Many people do not believe that this one class period of physical activity is significant, but in the long run it definitely makes a difference. People claim that physical education classes are a waste of time and that playing athletic games are unnecessary. These people need to realize that continuous movement for just thirty minutes can burn an excess of around 300 calories, which is evidently more than what students burn sitting at a desk for a half hour. Any amount of physical activity is beneficial and necessary for those not receiving exercise through a physical sport.
Even though a few states do require physical education to be taken, many do not have a specific amount of time that the students have to exercise. According to the article “More States are Requiring Physical Education in schools, but Few Set a Specific Amount,” the American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of physical education per week for elementary students, and 225 minutes a week for middle and high school students. Only a handful of states actually meet those times (“More”). Only six U.S. states have physical education listed as a mandatory class, which is only twelve percent of the states. Most schools that do require this course do not take it very seriously, which is why they do not meet the recommendations. These schools figure that as long as they require the course, they are following the rules and good to go. Unfortunately, this means that the schools are not actually interested in improving their students’ health, but instead are just making sure that they meet the minimum requirements. If there was a required amount of time that the physical education class had to be, then the schools are more likely to meet the suggested times. A newsletter entitled “Stronger State Laws Result in More Physical Education, but few States Have Strong Laws,” says that specific time requirements for P.E. might provide one opportunity for improving P.E. and could potentially promote more physical activity among children (“Stronger”). Having specific times seems necessary to improve the way that physical education is working in the U.S. Since the previous article stated that high schools needed 225 minutes of physical activity a week, this could be easily broken down into forty-five minutes of physical education per day. These forty-five minutes of exercise can go a long way.
Physical activity not only reduces the risk of obesity, but also has many other benefits. These benefits include both mental and physical profits. Exercise is known to reduce the risks of premature mortality, coronary heart disease, hypertension, colon cancer, and diabetes. Physical activity is also important for the health of muscles, bones, and joints of the body. It strengthens the body, and can strengthen the immune system as well. This means that the students would be less likely to become ill, and less likely to miss school due to sickness. With so many benefits, it seems foolish to not require physical education in schools.
Physical education would not only profit people as children, but it could potentially benefit them when their older. According to the newsletter “Stronger State Laws Result in More Physical Education, but Few States Have Strong Laws,” “Physical activity during childhood is associated with participation in physical activity later in life, may reduce the risk of becoming overweight as an adult, and may lessen the risk of chronic diseases, such as cancer, later in life” (“Stronger”). This proves that physical education would have positive results for life, not just years participating in the class.

The biggest argument against this idea is that the schools should be more focused on grades, rather than health. There are only so many hours in a school day, and the majority people think that every hour should be devoted to academics. However, many students that do take physical education at school still have enough time to take their required courses as well. Physical education is just one class period, and if students have the time to take extra classes like Foods or Keyboarding, then they have time to take physical education. Mentioned in an article in Time Magazine, “increasing the amount of physical activity that kids have during the day is not necessarily going to hurt overall academic achievement” (Rochman). The surprising fact is that physical activity can actually improve a student’s academic skills. According to Physical Education in America’s Public Schools, exercise increases circulation and blood flow to the brain, which leads to better concentration and wakes kids up, making them more attentive (Physical). When students are alert and ready to work, there is a better chance that they will do all of their school work and pay attention to their lessons during class. Physical activity is also known to release endorphins, which can reduce stress levels. Students, most often ones in high school, have very high stress levels. This is generally due to massive amounts of homework, additional activities outside of school, and pressure to get high grades and be the best that they can be. Most teachers and parents have high expectations of the students, which also contributes to stress. Since exercise decreases these stress levels, the children should take physical education daily and not be as stressed out about school work.