Mission Case

Physical activity is an essential component for lifelong wellness and the quality of life. Over years mainly in our present society today, childhood obesity has significantly increased. Data supports that young children are adopting inactive behaviors within and outside of school hours that may contribute to obesity and other health-related diseases. I will conclude in this paper, which provides early childhood teachers and parents with an overview of physical activity recommendations for young children between the ages of 3-5 and effective means to assess physical activity through curriculums in school settings. Regular physical activity is linked to a healthier, longer life style, and with the lower risk of having difficulties in living. Lack of physical activity has its risks. Therefore, other factors are well put into place in which we need to understand when dealing with children. As stated in an article "Childhood obesity is on the rise as kids are developing some very poor lifestyle habits such as:

 They have become more sedentary, spending time in front of the TV, computer, or texting friends as opposed to playing outside.

 They are eating unhealthy diets, filling up on high-fat fast food in place of eating more nutritious fruits and vegetables.

 They are spending less time in physical education classes or at recess, sitting in classrooms all day long instead of expending energy.

 They are not getting sufficient sleep at night, preventing their bodies from receiving the rest they need to function properly.

 They are not participating regularly in fitness programs or sports activities, choosing to sit passively on the sidelines instead.

Having to have appropriate monitoring of physical activity, can help students increase of self esteem, develop knowledge, attitude, discipline, and confidence needed to maintain active routines and obtain skills needed to develop a positive attitude towards physical activity.

As educators, parents, or guardians it is our responsibility to raise healthy kids and teach them to develop the daily habits which will allow them to lead a healthy lifestyle. We've got to teach our children the importance of being physically fit. When we think about what it means to be physically fit we think it is all about exercising only. However, there are ways we can make it exciting and incorporate basic academics into getting physical fit. In an article stated, it shows significant health benefits from regular participation in physical activities during childhood. (Culpepper, Tarr, Killon 2011). It also states that pressure on schools to show increased achievements of how children assess their knowledge in physical activity.

Where I live which is Guam, many of our children are obese, due to their eating habits as well as no physical exercise and low income families. And now that they enter the school system there is not many options of incorporating physical activity, most especially in elementary school. In elementary either we have curriculums such as SFA (Success for All), DI (Direct Instruction) in which Physical Education is not incorporated. Though they do try to incorporate it is done once a week. I believe that it should be incorporated everyday with each lesson taught.

Since working with the Head Start Program Physical Fitness is one area that I love to do with children. Many of our children that come to school aren't exposed to physical activity or even the basic such as jumping jacks, bending, touching of toes etc. Therefore, I incorporate the lesson in which I introduce nutrition and how we take care of our bodies.

Lesson Plan:

 Introduce to children what is physical exercise incorporating academics