Final Paper

Derek Lewis

Period 4, Expository Writing

Mrs. Boresen

May 19, 2011

Final Paper

Obesity is a topic no matter how hard we try to miss it; we can see that it just sticks out. No pun intended. I feel that physical activities should be highly pushed in high school curriculum. Obesity is a problem that starts in the early years of children and young adults. As said by Lee Haney, “Exercise is one of the best ways in preventing the rapid growth of obesity in America.”

        The problem of childhood obesity surrounds us every day, and it is a growing threat on our society. We cannot go around pretending that this problem doesn’t exist. The only option in retaliating to this threat is exercise. Exercise not only helps with weight, but scientifically it is proven to help mood swings and depression. It also stimulates your mind and causes your brain’s nerve cells to communicate in different ways that are new to your brain.

        The obesity rate in America is only growing more every day. This is an ongoing problem. I have studied fitness for all 4 years of my high school career, and I loved every second of it. For me, fitness and sports is a huge part of my everyday life. And, thus the results are apparent. My body is in shape, I’m not over weight or under weight, and I am proportionally right for my body and my size. I owe all my success in that area to our fitness classes at Roosevelt. I know people who have slimmed up and have got back into shape by running and being physically active. Omar Portillo has lost 15 pounds by being in conditioning this semester and has really toned up. His hard work has allowed him to go from over weight to toned up and muscular.

        Kids do not need to be taught healthy eating habits. Yes, those are ideal for the “perfect” society, but perfect is just something imagined and made up. Exercise is enough to allow one to eat what they want when they want it. Now don’t think that only 20 minutes is enough. I spend at least 4 hours a day exercising and working hard to keep myself in shape. That is sufficient enough for me and clearly gets the job done. The problem isn’t the accessibility of equipment. The problem is having the individual highly motivated to undergo all the hardships that working out could potentially bring.

        It is amazing what motivation can do. Motivation is a powerful thing that can win a state title, to winning a war. It is hard to obtain but when you have it is as sweet as honey. Now that motivation is the key to stopping childhood obesity. This is not an issue that can be tackled by just one person. It will take everybody to stand up and say that being fat is no longer acceptable. This is an issue on a national scale and thus it needs to be handled with the utmost concern and if it is not stopped in the next 5 to 10 years, I fear that it well continue to get worse until 9 out of 10 Americans are obese.

        I know for a fact that obesity is hard to overcome because I have seen it enough in my own family. It is extremely hard to break because humans are creatures of habits. If we were raised always eating junk food all the time it is very hard to break those routines. An easy way to break those habits is to incorporate exercise into fun and enjoyable activates. Some of those are basketball, baseball, dodge ball, and so on. High school P.E. is a great way to stay in shape. Our school offers great physical education classes. We have a class that strictly is working out and running. I personally believe that class has helped many students lose weight and be successful in sports.

Extracurricular activates are also great ways to stay in shape. I know that our baseball team believed in running and being in shape. The cross country team runs at least 3 miles a day. The track team also runs a mile for their warm up and of course their whole practice is running. Sports in high school are an excellent and enjoyable way to stay physically fit. Plus, you meet people who will be able to help you through out life and friends who you can keep forever.

        The curriculum side of this argument is have students take more physical education classes. Have them run more for warm ups, find activities that will keep them moving an active. Incorporate a policy where if they don’t participate their grade suffers or they cannot graduate. Enforce exercise like schools enforce grades and success in school. Success doesn’t just come from a healthy brain; it comes from a healthy body. Boxers live by this quote, “kill the body and the head dies with it”. If you have a healthy body your brain will be able to function better and the results will only increase. Plus, healthy teenagers are happy teenagers. Parents can attest that happy teenagers lead to happy homes. So please do the world a favor, and encourage more physical education; not only for our sakes, but for the upcoming generations that follow in our foot steps.