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As NFL Network works to Keep Gym in School over the coming months, we will be updating you here with the latest news. Covering all aspects of the program from school adoptions and refurbishments, to pep rallies, press events and in-game check presentations we want you to know what's happening with Keep Gym in School. Check back often to see how we're progressing in the fight against childhood obesity.
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Fact Sheet
Nationwide, childhood obesity has more than tripled since 1980. The percentage of obese and overweight children is at or above 30% in 30 U.S. states1. These startling figures have some scientists predicting this might be the first generation of Americans in 200 years to have shorter life spans than their parents.
Fact one
The percentage of students who attend daily PE dropped from 42% in 1991 to 28% in 2003. Fewer than 8% of U.S. middle schools provide daily physical education for the entire school year. (2)
Fact two
Health care providers are finding more and more children with type 2 diabetes and other conditions stemming from obesity and inactivity that were previously diagnosed almost entirely in adults aged 40 years or older. (3)
Fact three
Current annual medical costs related to obesity total $147 billion nationally – nearly 10% of all medical costs and almost twice the CDC's estimate in 1998. For obese individuals, that means almost $1,500 more a year on medical costs than average-weight individuals. (4)
Fact four
Recent studies suggest unfit and overweight children also suffer academically. A 2004 study in California schools and a 2009 study in New York City schools both found that students who scored well on fitness tests scored much higher than unfit students on academic tests. (5)
(1) F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Trust for America's Health (TAH).
(2) Shape of the Nation (2006): American Heart Association (AHA) and the National Association for Sport and physical education (NASPE)
(3) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are funding a 5-year, multicenter study, SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth, to examine the current status of diabetes among children and adolescents in the United States. http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/search.pdf
(4) Annual Medical Spending Attributable To Obesity: Payer- And Service-Specific Estimates. Eric A. Finkelstein, Justin G. Trogdon, Joel W. Cohen, and William Dietz.
Health Affairs Web Exclusive, July 27, 2009
(5) California Department of Education, California Physical Fitness test: A Study of the Relationship Between Physical Fitness and Academic Achievement in California Using 2004 Test Results, April 2005.
A special report from the New York City Health Department and the New York City Department of Education, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Vital Signs, June 2009, Volume 8 No. 1. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/survey/survey-2009fitnessgram.pdf
