Herald homework: Mandatory PE would save lives

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Fitness classes should not be an option. It should be mandatory, since a lack of physical activity can cause serious health problems.

Initially, the CDC — otherwise known as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — states that “not getting enough physical activity can raise a person’s risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.”

If more fitness programs are mandatory, less children in our community will have Type 2 diabetes. This is because the children exercise regardless of their choices, and one’s risk for Type 2 diabetes will not increase.

Additionally, the CDC states that $117 billion were spent on health care related to physical inactivity. This indicates that many are physically inactive, which causes various health problems; the health care expenses due to physical inactivity sum up to $117 billion dollars.

To end with, the WHO, or the World Health Organization, states that roughly two million deaths are related to physical inactivity. Physical inactivity can claim lives.

To prevent the loss of lives, principals and superintendents can make fitness programs mandatory. However, some may argue that the cost of the equipment is very costly. Despite the amount spent on equipment, all that spending is quite worth it. The cost of hospital treatment for heart disease — one of the side effects of physical inactivity — is much more expensive than the cost of equipment. So after this unwelcoming pandemic passes, go convince your principal to switch to a mandatory fitness program as soon as possible.

Tommy G.

sixth grade

Snohomish