Thursday, March 23, 2017


Statistics & Sources


Why PE is Important


The Students


- 75% of kids say their role models are family members, teachers, or coaches


- 15% of students are chronically absent from school, 30% of kids are bored at school, and 75% are not interested in what they learn at school


- In a study among 81,000 students across 26 states 73% of students reported not liking school, 61% didn’t like the teachers, and 25% claimed that no adults in the school cared about them


- 33% of children live without their father as part of their life


- 61% of children ages 2-17 receive mental health care/counseling of some kind



Obesity in America

- 36% of adults in the U.S. are obese, and 17% of children are obese


- Obesity is one of the biggest causes of preventable diseases such as hypertension, cardiac disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes and costs our country between $147-210 billion per year


- In 1980 there were 0 cases of type 2 diabetes in children (adult onset diabetes), in 2010 there were 57,636 cases of children diagnosed with type 2 diabetes


- Over 50% of public schools serve fast food in their schools (pizza, fries = vegetables)


- 80% of public schools have contracts with Coca-Cola or Pepsi


- Approximately $60 billion a year is spent on consumer diets in America




Fitness in America

- 60% of all gym members report never going, and the average membership is $55 per month


- The fitness industry in the U.S. see’s revenues of $24 - $28 billion per year


- Approximately 15% - 20% of all U.S. citizens have a gym membership


- 73% of adults used to participate in sports, but only 25% of adults currently participate in sports today




Benefits of Exercise

- Only 27% of children in the U.S. are active for 60 minutes a day, but children spend on average more than 7 hours a day in front of a screen (TV, cell phone, computer, etc.)


- Exercise reduces stress, fights disease, improves mood, boosts energy levels, maintains body weight/composition, and improves sleep


- Exercise benefits cognition among children by increasing blood and oxygen flow to the brain, increasing levels of norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins resulting in a reduction of stress, improvement of mood, increased awareness, and an increase in memory recall


- Just 20 minutes of exercise creates neurogenesis in the brain


- Studies show that kids who exercise, typically receive better grades and achieve more academically


- Exercise serves as an antidepressant. 1 out of 6 teens make plans for suicide, 1 of 12 teens actually attempt suicide. In addition, 1 out of 8 children are diagnosed with clinical depression