Relay races, dodgeball, crab walks, kickball, and about a hundred different versions of tag; this is what I lived for when I was ten years old. I would stare at the hands moving along the clock, seconds seemed like hours, hours felt like days, and I felt like I was going to grow old before it was time. Only eight minutes and 32 seconds and I would be racing towards the gymnasium for P.E. Everyone participated, it didn't matter if you were not athletic or if you were uncoordinated, it was a chance for every child to get some exercise and create lasting choices in regards to their health. Fast forward fifteen years and the healthy patterns that I learned from my grade school gym classes are still an important part of my life. However children in public schools around the country are no longer getting the same opportunities. Where I participated in gym almost every day, children now may it once every two weeks. Gym classes are being taken out of our public education system, which will lead to a myriad of problems. .
With each passing decade, childhood obesity has been on the rise. In just the last thirty years, childhood obesity rates have more than tripled. (Let's Move). These are your sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, the people that you love. This evidence shows that nearly one in every three children in America suffers from childhood obesity (Let's Move). Childhood obesity leads to a plethora of health concerns. Children who are considered to be obese are at a higher risk for different cardiovascular disease, like high blood pressure and high cholesterol, just like adults. .
Children with obesity problems are also at a higher risk to develop diabetes. These are all just short term problems. More long term problems include the possibilities of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancer, and osteoarthritis (CDC). Childhood obesity leads to adult obesity, this is one of the America's most pressing national problems.
