$200 MILLION FOR MILITARY FITNESS CAMPS? ONE THING WILL FIX THIS,
SAVE US $50 BILLION AND DO SO MUCH MORE
I just read in USA TODAY that we are spending $200 million on military fitness camps for new recruits to get them healthier and more fit to join the military. What’s next? Police fitness camps? Firemen fitness camps?
But what if we did one thing which will fix this problem and cut healthcare and other costs by over $50 billion. It is so simple. It is something everyone grew up with but has been ‘robbed’ from our children – Daily Physical Education taught by a PE teacher.
This is what happens when schools have daily PE delivered by a certified PE Teacher:
· Obesity will decrease.
· Mental health will improve.
· Kids will improve their academic results – higher grades.
· Diabetes & high blood pressure will decrease.
· Cancer will decrease.
· Missed days in school or missed days at work will decrease.
· The number of Americans who smoke will decrease.
· Natural immunity improves – Helps protect you from diseases like COVID-19.
· We will not have to pay $200 million for military fitness camps and our police and firemen will be in better shape too.
· America will use far fewer drugs to treat all these ailments.
Sorry Big Pharma! I want a true healthcare system and not support our ‘sickcare’ system. We need to prevent healthcare issues…not look for treatments after you are sick.
Don’t believe the benefits above? Former CDC Chief Dr. Thomas Frieden has said, “Physical activity is the closest thing we have to a wonder drug”. I call physical activity the Miracle Drug. Learn about these benefits at TheMiracleDrug.org.
The financial savings of physical activity have been well documented. Bruce Lee from the Center of Advanced Technology and Communication in Health has said, “If all children reached the ‘active to a healthy level’ (of physical activity), that would …save $26.3 billion in direct medical costs and $36 billion in lost productivity.”
And this does not include other HUGE benefits or savings listed above.
The fact is kids in the USA are in bad shape:
· “Our kids are ranked last in physical health among 38 countries.”
· “Our kids are ranked 47th out of 50 countries in fitness.”
· “90% of all kids are not active to CDC Standards.”
Check out these facts and more at InactivityPandemic.org.
Daily quality physical education would change all of these.
You may ask, aren’t kids getting PE? Nearly 50% of schools have dropped PE or cut it back dramatically. Nationwide, the average budget for PE is only $462 per year for an entire elementary school. That is about $1 per child per year! Look at what our kids looked like years ago vs. what our #1 competitor’s kids look like now in this short video.
Please don’t be fooled by schools saying kids have daily PE. I know of many schools who say, “We have daily PE” but in these schools, kids are taught PE by a certified PE teacher only one day a week. The other days of ‘physical education’ are monitored by a classroom teacher. I also know states which have PE requirements, but schools get waivers or break the rules. Some states say you must have 150 minutes of PE per week but don’t say ‘PE by a Certified PE Teacher’. Can you imagine science being taught by a math teacher? Or math being taught by a reading teacher? PE taught by a ‘classroom teacher’ is at best…recess.
Is there any wonder why kids are not healthy, overweight, and doing poorly in school?
Congress, do you want to fix this problem? Contact me at Jim@PHITAmerica.org. I have put together a plan to fix these issues and more. The cost? Less than $3 Billion. It doesn’t cost much. The ROI will be the best of any government program you have. It is just common sense. If you want to learn why I am so passionate about this topic, check out my background at Jim.PHITAmerica.org.
https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/resources/unfit-to-serve/index.html
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