Blog # 7- Research findings...

I did my research paper on the importance of health education in our school systems.  Many school have had to cut programs of health education such as PE.  Doing this has caused a problem for our youth, its quite evident from how many health problems our society is experiencing. Providing young people with the knowledge and skills they need to become successful learners and healthy and productive adults should be part of the schools health education curriculum.

Such problems as alcohol and drug use, emotional and mental health, HIV prevention, teen pregnancy, obesity, physical activity and fitness, Nutrition and dietary behaviors, injury prevention and safety, STD prevention, heart health, violence prevention, food borne illness prevention, tobacco use, and suicide prevention;  the list can go on and on.

Recent studies show that 1 in 5 high school students are current smokers, approximately 80 % of students do not eat the recommended 5 servings of vegetables and fruit per day.

More than 830,000 youth become pregnant each year, with such TV shows as 16 and pregnant gives teenagers the idea that having kids at such a young age is glamorous. Approximately 15 million school days are missed because of illness.  Overweight and obesity is a crisis among children.  The number of overweight children age 6- 11 has tripled over the past three decades, which should be no big surprise with more emphasis on TV. computers, and video games instead of actual physical activity.

If you look at the adults of today only 18% of American adults follow all three of the most important cardiovascular disease prevention measures; not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, and exercising regularly. Approximately two thirds of the U. S adults population is now estimated to be overweight or obese.  The estimated annual direct medical spending from overweight and obesity is approximately $92 billion.

Obesity also is a major contributor to heart disease, arthritis, and some types of cancer.  Annual deaths associated with obesity are estimated to be between 100,000 and 300,000 in the U.S. By investing in our youth its like investing money back into the bank.  Its easier and less costly to keep children healthy and implement them with tools to be health adults then  to fix preventable health problems later in life.

The potential for school health education to improve health and save lives is significant.  If we as a nation want to keep children and adolescents healthy it is important to find better ways to provide quality school health education.