Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/they-will/5022556/
Children’s health and wellness is a buzzing topic these days. But not so long ago it wasn’t a top priority for many educators; this isn’t because we didn’t care about children’s health, but more because we didn’t realize what disturbing trends had been occurring. Five years ago, Michelle Obama launched her Let’s Move initiative. Along with the partisan Partnership for a Healthier America and other national and local initiatives, we have all become familiar with some startling statistics:
Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled, and today, nearly one in three children in America are overweight or obese. The numbers are even higher in African American and Hispanic communities, where nearly 40 percent of the children are overweight or obese (Let’s Move, 2015).
There are myriad reasons these trends evolved: from a more sedentary lifestyle (more television and video games), to increased access to transportation (more cars, less walking), to an increase in access to convenience foods (lower nutrition), to busier schedules (eating on the run), and decreased free play (more restrictions on play at home and school). Although we’ve made progress in the last few years, unfortunately there hasn’t been enough change in these trends. Early childhood ...