Why wait until they're born. We should do in vitro testing and flush the damaged ones down the sink.

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"Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty." Robert Heinlein

Despite the wealth of knowledge concerning the benefits of physical education and physical activity, only 8% of elementary schools, 6.4% of middle schools, and 5.8% of high schools provide daily physical education to all of its students ~ (SHPPS, 2000).


Another example of Republican tax-cutters stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime.


But it's not just about the math connected to how much it costs to treat each individual patient over their lifetime. There are other extraneous costs, such as missed days (lost production) of work where the healthcare system does not get accessed, but how about learning disabilities, or reduced educations, that is, because of a lack of fitness we're not-----NOT leveraging our greatest asset, our people/students/children, due to poor nutritional and physical activity choices, i.e. fitness, to name just one of the negative externalities of poor fitness choices.


Is student health a concern for schools -- of course it is, well nourished-active-physically fit kids are:It is a known fact that physical activityimproves overall health. Not only does it improve circulation, increase blood flow to the brain, and raise endorphin levels, which all help to reduce stress, improve mood and attitude, and calm children, physically active students may also achieve more academically. Physically fit students are less likely to miss school, partake in risky behaviors, get pregnant, or attempt suicide, which are all associated with better outcomes in school (Taras, 2005).


Many studies have demonstrated the positive effects of physical education and physical activity on school performance. Several studies have stated that providing increased time for physical activity can lead to better concentration, reduced disruptive behaviors and higher test scores in reading, math and writing (Satcher, 2005).

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It has also been proven that when students are involved in a physical activity program, there is an "improved rate of academic learning per unit of class time" (Taras, 2005) and that increased time spent in physical education does not negatively effect student scores. A study done in France increased its physical education time to 8 hours per week, reducing time devoted to academic subjects. The students in this experiment were physically and psychologically healthier and had increased academic performance when compared to the control group (Sallis, 1999).


Conscription has many positive's, but I would rather see a lifelong commitment via the public school system, to nutrition, exercise i.e. fitness, would improve not only our physical health but also our productivity, mental capabilities which extrapolates to keeping us ahead of the curve for military and national security issues.


The alternative to a national commitment to fitness is, give the South their wish -- let the South secede and the country becomes exponentially more fit-------overnight.

All this is well and good, but there are a number of us here who remember when kids were physically fit and naturally active. What are some of the differences?
1. There's been a significant change in the family structure and how families interact. There was a time when the family sat down to meals together. No fast food junk, no TV trays in front of the tube. After dinner, chores and homework, a family often read or played games together. Both parents were active in raising their children instead of foisting them off on the school system or child care providers. Mothers were not condemned for being just mothers. Motherhood was an honored position in society.
2. At school, children ate the food provided by their parents or bought a hot lunch that included decent portions of food prepared on site. They were fed the local fast food trash trucked in and re-warmed. When they went out for recess, they ran, played group games, and generally burned off a lot of energy. PE classes included things like square dancing, volleyball, soccer, or any other variety of team activities. The primary function of school was to arm children with the academic skills they would need to function after graduation. Now, we see useful programs like auto shop, wood shop, home-economics, and such dumped in favor of classes that teach our children how important it is that Sandy has two mommies, or that "creationism" is equal to evolution. Everyone has to feel good about how hard they tried, but no one has to be responsible for actually succeeding at the tasks required.
3. When at home, kids went outside and played. We got to watch some cartoons on Saturday morning but after that, out we went. We built forts, ran through the woods, explored our world, went to the school playground, and any other variety of physical activities. We did have to be home in time to sit down to dinner with the family. We did not have the internet, computers, wii, or any of the other high-tech crap kids shackle themselves to nowadays.

There is so much more. But all the government programs that all the politicians can hatch will not change the fact that we are a bunch of fat, sedentary slobs. Only we can do that. Like the alcoholic or drug addict, no one will change us unless it is us.

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"Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty." Robert Heinlein

Maybe glorious peoples union can set up neighborhood cafeterias. They can outlaw private possession of food, thus ensuring that the subjects eat only what glorious peoples commissars decide they will eat.

562-97-8997, you are not exercising vigorously enough. Failure to comply will bring punishment.

Obama was already considering group housing, wasn't he?

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Obama Lied, Chris Stevens Died.

Ahhh yes
the days of
,

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Ozzie and Harriet" target="_blank"> Ozzie and Harriet

.


The days when the single paycheck family was the norm-----the norm on TV anyway.
I remember one HS friend in particular, Dad Johnson was a teamster. The Johnson family lived in a house that my friend (after his Mom died) sold just a couple of years ago for $1.4 million. The Johnson's had two cars, every 4 years, one of the cars was new.
On good weather week-ends the Johnson's usually took their boat up to the San Juan Islands.
Every year the Johnson's screwed up our Little League/Babe Ruth/Connie Mack baseball team by taking our shortstop to visit family in Sweden, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand for a month.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture, the Johnson's lived a very nice lifestyle-----and they did it on one paycheck?-----well, not quite, Mom Johnson worked 5 hours/day, 5 days/week in a Seattle School District lunchroom----"to fill in a few household budget gaps".

Employees were treated like assets, and most felt secure in their positions and union membership was in the 25% - 30% range.
Health Insurance was essentially non-profit and "co-pay" was a word for the future.
The top marginal tax rate was 91%, the pay gap between Fortune 500 CEO's and the average American worker was a ratio of about 27:1.
Minimum wage went from 0.75¢/hr to $1.40/hr and the average price of a gallon of gasoline was in the 0.32¢ range.
During the period of the "Great Convergence" 1940-1980, the gap in income inequality narrowed to about 19% between the 1% and the 99% and-----and wages and productivity were...






Ahhh yes
the bygone, halcyon days of yesteryear, the days when the "greatest generation" created the greatest middle class, then...

Blame the GMO's

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“We spend so much time bantering about the words when the real open conversations might very well be our actions. I worry about our rhetoric.”
― Anna Deavere Smith

"Studies" will show a lot more when Obama-care clicks in. If the government supplies health care and employs a thousand new IRS agents you can bet your ass(ets) that they will find a lot more creative ways to correct unhealthy habits than just "studies". Beware of the brave new world of elitist liberalism..