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Emely Martinez

Professor Moore

English 1302

30 April 2017

A Healthy Lifestyle Creates a Brighter Future

The future of America lies in the children but success is at risk because obesity is

depriving their health. Health should be the key to leading a long-lasting successful life. As

Michelle Obama, a leader to end obesity and first lady (2009-2017) said, Childhood obesity

issue is critically important to me because it's critically important to the health and success of our

kids, and of this nation, ultimately (Beth 1). The United States is a nation where constant

renovations into modern life are made, where childrens lives are so unlike from what their

grandparents lives used to be. Modern lifestyle is a time period where people do not have

enough time to accomplish everything in their over scheduled days. With modern lifestyle,

obesity is becoming more common creating a red flag for the U.S nation; it is important to end

obesity as soon as possible to create a healthier future for children. The effects of obesity vary

from heart disease, type two diabetes, bone and joint disease, cancer, high blood pressure, sleep

apnea and metabolic syndrome which are the most common (Stanford Health Care). These

illness associated with obesity will critically affect children from having a bright future. Public

schools should focus on activities, meals and health education for children because it will allow

obesity to be prevented or controlled.

It is important to be creative in order for children to be motivated in adapting a healthy

lifestyle. Students spend around eight hours of their day in school, commonly getting home

around four in the afternoon which means that school runs an important role in childrens lives
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because they spend the majority of their time in school. Creativity runs a big role in allowing

children to freely express themselves based on who they are. Childrens minds are set free

because they do not know of things adults know such as the limits of what can be done or not.

Although adults minds are more informed about certain theories than children, it is important to

influence children to continue being themselves and having creativity without limits. Schools

lack in creativity when doing activities for students to keep themselves physically active during

recess time. School districts should focus on creating playgrounds that will allow their students

to find a certain activity that attracts their interest and allows them to use their creativity. It is

nice to give kids free time to clear their minds from school work but having an option to have an

adult setting up physical activities during recess time to motivate them would also be great. With

the help of the students by taking their opinions into consideration would allow adults to make

up creative activities that would motivate the students to exercise. By doing this students would

also release stress and improve their health. Exercising works but there is a minimum time

required, children and adolescents should do 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day

(United States Department of Agriculture). Normally recess time runs from fifteen to thirty

minutes but an increase to having forty minutes would allow students to exercise more without a

stop and allow them to burn off more calories. By schools enforcing physical activities it will

allow a noticeable improvement that could be tracked. Exercise is a great help to children who

are overweight or obese. Providing children with options to exercise will expand their preference

and finding their adequate way of maintaining a physically active routine.

A full stomach makes a happy heart. Maintaining a healthy diet is important for a childs

growth especially in the first three years of life (Feeding America). Children having a healthy

diet is an issue, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 13.1 million
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children under 18 in the United States live in households where they are unable to consistently

access enough nutritious food necessary for a healthy life (Feeding America). When children do

not have nutritious food at home, having unhealthy food or snacks will be easier for them to

become overweight or obese. Public schools can work on creating healthy snacks for the students

before dismissing them. It is important to feed students before leaving for home because schools

usually have lunch around ten in the morning which leaves students with an expanded time gap

without consuming any food. Especially for those kids that have after school curriculums it is

important to have a snack before leaving school. Implementing school gardens will economically

help public schools to feed their students vegetables and fruits before leaving school. By feeding

students before leaving school this will help reduce the junk food consumption when getting

home to no meals or when parents get home late from work. Such method of school gardens was

taken into action during World Wars I and II to economically help the United States and was part

of school program (Scherr, Cox, Freenstra, Zeindenberg-Cherr 31). Gardens will benefit schools

by teaching students about science and health while economically benefiting public schools

which will in return help keep their students healthy and full. Some schools have implemented

agriculture by doing a 13-week garden enhanced nutrition program, middle school children ate

a greater variety of vegetables than they had initially (Scherr et al & Zidenberg-Cherr 31). Such

simple form has educated students and also allowing hands on experience which has improved

their understanding creating a positive effect toward health choices. Creating healthy snacks for

students and keeping it creative will also help students get a clear idea of how they themselves

can prepare snacks and meals without the need of cooking. Having gardens will also allow

schools to buy other foods necessary to feed their students and maintaining them full after
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leaving school. A snack before dismissing students home every day will prevent them from

starving and eating unhealthy food when arriving to their home.

It is surprising of the things adults can learn through children. That is the goal, to inform

both students and parents about obesity and health through school. A well-informed family about

health will give children a stable family and help each other maintain health. Children learn

something new every day and are likely to tell parents or adults that help with their homework in

the afternoons. Schools can educate parents through students. It is important to inform everyone

about health and in that the issue about obesity. If students get informed the proper way about

obesity they can get a clear understanding about how to look out after their health. As well as

getting educated at a young age, children can inform their parents or remind them of the

importance it is to keep themselves healthy for their own good. Teachers can be assigned ten

minutes of their school day to inform their students about health and the importance there is in

starting at a young age to care about their health. Posters can also be put around the cafeteria to

give a daily visual of what healthy foods consist of and the comparison in calories between

healthy and unhealthy snacks. Teaching a clear understanding about health will transform

children into taking good choices for themselves when selecting foods. Informing students to

start caring about their future through the importance of health is necessary for a change in

obesity to occur.

Through a combination of interventions in children, a healthy lifestyle will be adopted

allowing them to have a brighter future without obesity and its effects. Creating a healthy

lifestyle takes into knowing, what and how much you eat and drink, along with regular physical

activity, (which) can help you manage your weight and lower your risk of disease (United States

Department of Agriculture). Creative physical activities during recess time will motivate
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students to work out and influence them in adopting a sport that will maintain them physically

active. A meal plan that will allow children to go home without an empty stomach will prevent

them from starving and going for junk food when they do not have cooked meals at home. Lastly

educating students will allow them to understand the importance of obesity and why it is also

important to adapt a healthy lifestyle. Through informing students about health it will allow them

to spread the word to their family and impacting them as well in order for them to take a step into

a healthy lifestyle. Obesity is an issue in which each year obesity-related conditions cost over

150 billion dollars and cause an estimated 300,000 premature deaths in the US (Stanford Health

Care). It is a time for a final change that will drastically impact the number of obesity and for

that to happen it is time for schools to take action in implementing multiple interventions.
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Works Cited

Child Hunger Facts. Feeding America, www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/impact-of-

hunger/child-hunger/child-hunger-fact-sheet.html?referrer=https%3A%2F

%2Fwww.google.com%2F. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017.

Danford, C. A., et al. "Perceptions of Low-Income Mothers about the Causes and Ways to

Prevent Overweight in Children." Child: Care, Health & Development, vol. 41, no. 6,

Nov. 2015, pp. 865-872. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/cch.12256.

How Much Physical Activity is Needed? Choose MyPlate, 21 June 2016,

www.choosemyplate.gov/physical-activity-amount. Accessed 26 Apr. 2017.

Obesity. Stanford Health Care (SHC) - Stanford Medical Center,

stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/healthy-living/obesity.html. Accessed 28 Apr.

2017.

Scherr, Rachel E., et al. "Integrating Local Agriculture into Nutrition Programs Can Benefit

Children's Health." California Agriculture, vol. 67, no. 1, Jan-Mar2013, pp. 30-37.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.3733/ca.v067n01p30.

Summers, Beth. Lets Move Campaign Turns One, Forgoes Cake. PBS, Public Broadcasting

Service, 9 Feb. 2011, www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/lets-move-campaign-turns-one-

forgoes-cake/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2017.