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The Prevention of Childhood Obesity Begins with Physical Education

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The Prevention of Childhood Obesity begins with Physical Education
Introduction and Thesis:
In today’s society obesity has risen greatly, causing a major health concern, in children, in part this is due to unhealthy food choices and physical inactivity. The percentage of overweight children from 1980 to present time has more than doubled. Eighteen percent of children six to eleven years olds are considered over weight and seventeen percent of twelve to nineteen year-old adolescents are weight, and the number of children between the ages of two to five has almost tripled in the last forty years. (The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2005 as per Fogel, Miltenberger, Graves, Koehler, 2010) The scope of this paper will include definition of childhood obesity, techniques used to measure obesity in children, health concerns related to childhood obesity, physical activity, and issues that impact quality Physical Education in a positive way, and an action plan that will improve motor skills of children.
What is childhood obesity and how is it Measured? Obesity is defined as “an excessive accumulation of body fat.” (Green, Riley, & Hargrove, 2010) The Center of Disease Control (2012) defined obesity in children or adolescents as individuals with a body mass (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile. The methods for measuring obesity in children are to measure the thickness of their skin folds, height, weight and their body mass index if the total equals thirty pounds or more the child is considered obese.” (http://www.cde.gov/obesity/childhood/ basics.html) The Effects and Health Concerns related to Childhood obesity: According to Wittberg, Northrup, & Cottrel, (2009) Studies have shown that overweight children’s physical, social, and emotional developments are significantly affected. Overweight children are prong to be

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