Physical Activity In America

Another opponent that Americans face is the declining rates of physical activity in society. In an adult's life, the majority of their day will be spent at their occupation. In the 1960’s almost half of private industry jobs demanded at least mild physical activity whereas now there is less than 20% of jobs that demand as much physical expense from employees (Church). A main reason for the decrease in physical activity in American jobs is the downturn of manufacturing jobs. More than 30% of private industry jobs were in manufacturing, in 2008 this number dropped to approximately 12% (Church). This has led to a minimum of 100 less calories being burned throughout the work day resulting in an energy gap. For children, the obesity rate is even …show more content…
Technological advances are being made faster than ever and it is crucial to keep in mind their drawbacks and health issues. A generation ago, about half of young people either walked or rode bicycles to school. Today’s students are no longer walking or biking to school, the mass of children are being driven by bus or parents. Once arriving at school, students are not finding higher opportunities to increase their activity levels. Fewer than 4% of elementary schools provide daily physical education (Kenner). There are only six states left that require mandatory physical education. Amongst them are Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Illinois, and Iowa. If Illinois passes the proposed 440 Bill, the state will no longer require physical education. Given this information, a child will spend eight hours a day in the school system and at least four hours in front of a television or electronic device. That leaves only a few hours left for physical activity, which is time that is used for eating, homework, and winding down the day. It is at a young age when children should be taught and implementing healthy life decisions, contrary to cutting physical education out of