Transcript No Slide Title

On the Home Team
What Parents Can Do
to Improve Teen Fitness and Health
One of the most important actions you can
take to improve your child’s fitness and
health is to support your school’s physical
education program. Today’s physical
education adds up to meaningful, beneficial,
and safe experiences:
Individualization + Age-appropriate activities
+ Skills and experiences = Lifelong fitness.
The New Physical
Education
=
Quality Physical
Education . . .
For example, depending on age and
experience, your teen may learn to:
Self-test health-related fitness
components (e.g., cardiovascular
endurance, flexibility).
Keep a fitness log to encourage physical
activity.
Apply math skills to calculate heart rate.
Use language skills to log physical
activity.
Shop wisely for personal fitness
equipment and centers.
Improve basic motor skills needed to
participate in physical activities.
Design a personal fitness program.
Today, through quality physical education,
your teen can:
Learn to apply many academic skills.
Discover enjoyable physical activities for
lifelong fitness.
Apply social skills through cooperative
activities.
Participate in positive competition.
Benefits
of Quality
Physical
Education . . .
Physical activity improves sequencing
abilities and access to memory.
Physical activity improves ability to
master new academic material.
Source: Ratey 2001
Learning how to participate safely and
effectively in physical activity through
physical education also builds confidence
and interest in physical activity.
Fitness skills and information teach your
son or daughter how to make and
implement healthier lifestyle choices.
Developing the habit of making healthier
lifestyle choices means a healthier teen
now—and a healthier adult in the future.
Regular physical activity enhances
feelings of well-being (U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services 2000a).
Feelings of confidence and joy in physical
activity gained through quality physical
education increase the likelihood your
teen will become a physically active—and
therefore healthier—adult.
Physically competent and active teens are
less likely to be—or become—overweight
or obese.
Physically competent and active teens are
less likely to develop heart disease or
diabetes later in life.
Source: USDHHS 2000b.
Physically active children smoke less
(JAMA 1993).
“When physical inactivity is combined
with poor diet, the impact on health is
devastating, accounting for an estimated
300,000 deaths per year. Tobacco use is
the only behavior that kills more people.”
JAMA 1993, as reported in USDHHS 2000b.
Other Actions
You Can Take . . .
Support Your School’s
Physical Education
Program . . .
Encourage your School Board to fund
physical education fully.
Encourage your teen to try a variety of
activities through both physical education
and activities outside school.
Discourage the use of physical education
waivers.
Ask other parents and local businesses to
get involved.
Help with fundraisers to buy new
equipment and to obtain further teacher
training.
Support Your School’s
Physical Education Program
Ask your physical education staff for
more specific suggestions.
Choose
Physical Activity
Instead of Inactivity . . .
Encourage your teen to join out-of-school
programs that encourage and facilitate
physical activity and other healthy
choices.
Provide transportation to local physical
activity sites, such as skating rinks,
swimming pools, and parks.
Do sit-ups, push-ups, or gentle stretches
during TV commercial breaks. Make it fun!
Help your teen find a safe way to bike or
walk to school and other events more
often than he or she does now.
Most teens are sociable by nature, so, for
example, welcome your teen’s friends to
play basketball in the driveway, or, take a
group to a vertical climbing gym or hiking
site.
Bike as a family to a local restaurant,
movie theater, or other attraction.
Choose Physical Activity
Instead of Inactivity
Be creative, and the choices will be endless!
Encourage Other
Healthy Choices . . .
Talk to your teen about avoiding alcohol,
other drugs, and tobacco. Teens do listen.
Source: Joseph A. Califano, Jr., 2000, CASA President.
Provide healthy drinks: plenty of water,
low-fat milk, and unsweetened juice.
Encourage your school to do so too!
Note: Overconsumption of softdrinks is
partly blamed for the explosion in childhood
obesity (The Lancet 2001).
What You Can Do
You can help a your teen live a more
physically active, healthier life by making a
few simple changes such as these.
Start with one or two small changes. Then
build from there to a healthier life—for the
whole family!
Funding for this program was provided by
PE4Life (www.PE4LIFE.org) and
Human Kinetics Publishers
(www.humankinetics.com)
Content support was provided by The
National Association for Sport and Physical
Education (NASPE)
www.aahperd.org/naspe