Jessica Liddle
Professor Holliday
ENGL 1551-CRN# 24797
27 February 2013
Obesity in Schools: Recommended Gentle Reclamation and Dialect America has a problem on its hands, the Journal of School Health repots that “Thirty-two percent of all US children are overweight or obese and, tragically, most of these children will go on to become obese adults” (Tuckson,MD 137). Obesity is an up hill battle with the children of today mainly because people are too busy. Time is the culprit, whether there is not enough time in the day or too much time with nothing to do. After school hours are full of various activities not all of which are physical, such as music lessons, study halls and club meetings therefore children are in hurry all the time so they "just pick something up" and these spur of the moment choices are generally not healthy. A few reasons behind the growing youth obesity epidemic are bad food choices, lack of exercise, lack of time, and hereditary traits. Also, too much time spent on-line or playing video games contribute to youth obesity as well. According to Reed V. Tuckson, MD, “ Today’s children will suffer from preventable chronic diseases” such as obesity and the health problem associated with it (137). Obesity causes many life threatening health problems at any age, commonly linked aliments include juvenile and type-2 diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, and cancer. Obesity has also been linked to heart disease, which is the number one killer in America. Apparently, American society is taking notice of the constantly growing obesity rate of its youth, which leaves the question - who can help curb the rise of youth obesity? Physical educators are in the best position to encourage good habits regarding physical activity and good nutrition, which could significantly curb the alarming upward trend of the obesity rate in the American youth.