Physical Fitness Along With Dietary

Physical Fitness Along With Dietary Awareness

B David Ferrel

This first section will concern the two main factors concerning adolescent obesity: 1) the importance of physical fitness and the mandatory incorporation of physical activity, and 2) dietary education and eating consciously. No benefit from one exists without the other, and this significance needs to be taught to children throughout their academic careers. The next section will follow out with recommended physical activity guidelines along with School Wellness and Physical Activity Policies.

Subsection

Physical Fitness and Exercise defined

What is Physical Education? According to the Glossary of Gym Terms set by Cudahychamber.com [http://www.cudahychamber.com/gym_Glossary.htm]:

Physical Fitness: An overall measure of physical attributes including cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance, body composition and flexibility.

As a base definition, Physical Fitness is achieved through exercise or any activity requiring physical effort. But our cultured definition has shifted slightly throughout time. In years past, physical fitness referred more to one's aptitude in executing a task without becoming completely worn out. Due to the industrial revolution and enhanced technology of recent times, right along with our idle time spent due to the abundance of stationary jobs, the term physical fitness now refers to a person's operative physical capability, more as a sign of health and functionality.

To form at least a base understanding that health and functionality requires maintenance, physical fitness must be learned at an early age. As well, many issues in concern to fitness arise. For one, the greatest barrier concerning fitness is personal intimidation. Yes, self-consuming, self-deprecating intimidation, right along with every other turn of phrase symptomatic to this insignificant waste of time, typically creates the greatest obstructions for many adolescents. Likewise, overexertion can be just as damaging as avoiding the gym entirely. The psychological harm of overexertion, in this case namely the intimidation ensued, can make a person perceive merely approaching a gym or fitness center as taboo.

Therefore, as with cardiovascular or anaerobic weight lifting, the individual must start off at a comfortable pace. Only once this pace becomes comfortable should the individual think to gradually increase the speed or power exerted. Then this individual must be reminded that endurance is acquired; not inherent. Speed or stamina slowly builds over time, so all physical demands or expectations will only be gradually obtained; otherwise, injuries occur. Without this focus on the individual, no group or team will prosper.

Then, upon completion, the individual performing the exercise will need to hold focus on that feeling of inner-gratitude, or at least the acknowledgement and recognition, rather than any competitive inferiority. Any sensation of inferiority is worthless and self-effacing. Instead, an inner-focused, goal-driven, start-to-finish attempt at physical endurance or accomplishment of a physical task can only be accomplished with complete concentration on the task at hand as opposed to personal insecurities.

Adolescents must be taught how to both exercise and eat consciously as well as understand how these individual rudiments work together as one.

Subsection

Dietary Education and Eating Consciously;

Maintaining awareness of Hydrogenated oils and Trans-fats

Fat hydrogenation occurs mainly to bulk-up inexpensive and unhealthy food additives. Heated fats gain volume due to beads of hydrogen added to thicken the substance. This grants a much richer flavor along with a smoother texture, but it poses quite a hazardous health risk. Right alongside this cheaper lifestyle, these fats will alter a person's health for the worse while synthetically confusing the bodies fat storage.

In Layman's terms, these inexpensive oils drastically invert our digestive processes and hinder our bodies from digesting essential fatty acids. Accordingly, this generates severe health risks. Our bodies are not able to properly digest these synthetic oils. As we cut costs and stock up on packaged foods and eat out at inexpensive fast-food restaurants, our bodies suffer. "Good fats," on the other hand, are essential to a healthy diet -- favorably mono- or poly-unsaturated fats.

Inadequately synthesized fats are passed off as partially hydrogenated cooking oils; these oils can be found in the far greater majority of fast foods, cooked into many packaged foods, and lower-grade cooking oils. These oils can be found in the far greater majority of fast food restaurants, within many packaged foods, in lower-grade cooking oils. The difference between these fats (the fully hydrogenated state) and hydrogenated oils is simply a matter of temperature.

Complications such as sleep apnea, high cholesterol, and obesity continue to attack humanity quite like an epidemic. These fats have maliciously altered a nation of consumers in roughly four decades. Educational awareness will be the only way to combat this.

Subsection

Identification: Names of these fats

Trans Fats, Transmogrified Fats and Mono Diglycerides. Transmogrification occurs through heat processing at an incredibly high temperature of a fat and this reverses the digestive process. These "Good Fats" are vital since they block dangerous allergens right alongside other essential nutrients of fats, but these variant names for hydrogenated (synthetic) fats refrain "Good Fats" from doing their job. They impede natural nervous system activity and other brain cell functions, retard the immune system and halt other natural bodily operations, decelerate hormonal functions, degenerative diseases, and pose many other health threats. And it has become a matter of quantity over quality. Since our bodies do not get these nutrients from the fats and oils that we digest, our bodies then crave genuine fat.

Subsection

Recommended physical activity guidelines for adolescents

Summary: Adolescents should participate daily in 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity that is developmentally appropriate, enjoyable, and involves a variety of activities.

Webpage: EVIDENCE-BASED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY FOR SCHOOL-AGE YOUTH.

Reference List

Contributors: WILLIAM B. STRONG, MD,* ROBERT M. MALINA, PHD,* CAMERON J.R. BLIMKIE, PHD, STEPHEN R. DANIELS, MD, PHD, RODNEY K. DISHMAN, PHD, BERNARD GUTIN, PHD, ALBERT C. HERGENROEDER, MD, AVIVA MUST, PHD, PATRICIA A. NIXON, PHD, JAMES M. PIVARNIK, PHD, THOMAS ROWLAND, MD, STEWART TROST, PHD, AND FRANCxOIS TRUDEAU, PHD. (J Pediatr 2005;146:732-7)

Hyperlink: http://www.healthywv.com/shared/content/page_objects/content_objects/pdf_documents/youth_pa_recs.pdf (June 13, 2005, 12:00 AM ET)

School Wellness and Physical Activity Policies

Summary:

Congress recognizes that schools play a critical role in promoting student health, preventing childhood obesity, and combating problems associated with poor nutrition and physical inactivity. To formalize and encourage this role, Congress passed a law (P.L. 108-265). Each local educational agency participating in a program authorized by the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq) or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq) shall establish a local school wellness policy by School Year 2006."

The legislation places the responsibility of developing a wellness policy at the local level so the individual needs of each district can be addressed. According to the requirements for the Local Wellness Policy, school districts must set goals for nutrition education, physical activity, campus food provision, and other school-based activities designed to promote student wellness. Additionally, districts are required to involve a broad group of individuals in policy development and to have a plan for measuring policy implementation.