Fighting Obesity: The Role of Physical Education in High Schools to Improve Health and Well-being

Question: PE argument essay Have you ever wondered why there are so many overweight and obese teenagers and adults? Many people are obese or overweight because of their upbringing or what they did when they were teenagers. As of 2023, there are 39.6% obese adults, 31.1% are overweight, and 7.7% severe obesity. Many health officials have been apprehensive about these obesity rates since the COVID lockdown..currently PE is required to graduate and they have to take one year but many people want to discontinue this policy Teens should be offered PE because nationwide children between 12 and 19 have an obesity rate of 22.2 % or ⅕ of kids. Mental health would increase by a lot, especially with the highest amount of depression among teenagers. It would help expose them to new sports and activities so they can enjoy playing sports and would be able to exercise PE should be offered to high school students or teenagers because obesity rates are the highest they have ever been and children between 12 and 19 have obesity rates on average of 22.2% or ⅕ of kids. Based on these facts from the CDC which is crazy for high schoolers. They should not be obese at these rates because teens should have fun and enjoy their teen years. Obesity being linked to higher risks of depression, heart disease, and high blood pressure can stress not just them but their families because not everyone has money to pay for medical problems such as diabetes which is also linked to obesity and can demolish their goals or pride not allowing them to enjoy the things they should. PE would help them because it teaches healthy nutrition and teaches them to be more active. This would then encourage them to try and focus on their health and they would be in a better place. Focusing on their health would increase their likelihood of a healthy heart and lower their chances of diabetes and high blood pressure. High schools should keep PE as a required credit to graduate because mentally teens are not in school anymore and dislike school more than ever because they are forced to come to school they are sad or sometimes they can contract depression and if they did go to PE or just exercise regularly based on the information provided by mayo clinic PE or exercise has been linked to ease or help with depression, anxiety, and nervousness.` Lastly, students would be exposed to new sports and activities, increasing their likelihood of taking an interest in the sports and allowing them to communicate with their teammates and help them socially. However, sports and activities introduce a lot of negativities. I have witnessed bullying inside the locker room, especially the way people look. I have seen people skip PE classes so they don't have to dress out. It can affect the way people look at themselves and might cause them to hate themselves and fall into depression, however, if people took the negativity and used it as criticism it might drive them to become better and better themselves mentally and physically. Hearing other people dislike and discourage the idea of having PE be a required credit did make me think that they should maybe make it an option for students to decide but i realized that teenagers don't know what's good or bad for them and many teenagers indulge in overeating or eating junk food and on top of that they choose not to exercise in a shape or form made me realize that it should be a required credit because almost on average 25% of teens between 12-19 are obese which if we remove PE as a required credit what would happen to that number? It would increase and with that increase so will depression and other chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes. Also, many teens that are involved in sports have an easier time communicating and socializing with their peers because sports create team building and communicating well with their teammates which can equal socializing out of sports. find reliable sources