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Additional Reading & Resources |
FACTS from the CDC:
· Nearly half of American youths
aged 12-21 years are not vigorously active on a regular basis.
· About 14 percent of young people
report no recent physical activity. Inactivity is more common among females
(14%) than males (7%) and among black females (21%) than white females
(12%).
· Participation in all types of
physical activity declines strikingly as age or grade in school increases.
· Only 19 percent of all high school
students are physically active for 20 minutes or more, five days a week, in
physical education classes.
· Daily enrollment in physical
education classes dropped from 42 percent to 25 percent among high school
students between 1991 and 1995.
· Well designed school-based
interventions directed at increasing physical activity in physical education
classes have been shown to be effective.
· Social support from family and
friends has been consistently and positively related to regular physical
activity.
BENEFITS OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
· Helps build and maintain healthy
bones, muscles, and joints.
· Helps control weight, build lean
muscle, and reduce fat.
· Prevents or delays the development
of high blood pressure and helps reduce blood pressure in some adolescents
with hypertension.
WHAT COMMUNITIES CAN DO
· Provide quality, preferably daily,
K-12 physical education classes and hire physical education specialists to
teach them.
· Create opportunities for physical
activities that are enjoyable, that promote adolescents' and young adults'
confidence in their ability to be physically active, and that involve
friends, peers, and parents.
· Provide appropriate physically
active role models for youths.
· Provide access to school buildings
and community facilities that enable safe participation in physical
activity.
· Provide a range of extracurricular
programs in schools and community recreation centers to meet the needs and
interests of specific adolescent and young adult populations, such as racial
and ethnic minority groups, females, persons with disabilities, and
low-income groups.
· Encourage health care providers to
talk routinely to adolescents and young adults about the importance of
incorporating physical activity into their lives.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, MS K-46
4770 Buford Highway, NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30341-3724
1-888-CDC-4NRG or 1-888-232-4674 (Toll Free)
http://www.cdc.gov
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