Break a Sweat, Change Your Life
The Urgent Need for Physical Education in Schools
by
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Everyone knows that physical fitness is a good thing, so if you are holding this book in your hands you may be wondering what you could possibly learn from it. In fact, there is lots of news about the myriad benefits of physical activity and, conversely, the significant dangers of inactivity. Gone are the days when getting daily exercise was considered optional; something to aspire too, perhaps, but about as important as eating your spinach. Today, we know that ignoring your body’s need for exercise not only puts you at risk for major disease that will shorten your life, but also deprives you of doing and feeling your best mentally and emotionally. This is true for children, as well as adults --- especially children, whose potential for long life can be enhanced or diminished by the choices we make for them and that they make themselves. Youth offers only short-term protection from the diseases that accompany obesity* and inactivity, which often have their roots in childhood. And today’s high-pressure childhoods cry out for every cognitive and emotional advantage fitness can provide. Unfortunately, a perfect storm of circumstances has conspired to minimize physical activity in our children’s lives, thus depriving them of the benefits we now know exercise confers, and propelling them deeper into the abyss of inactivity with its attendant risks. If we had deliberately tried to set up the next generation for a health crisis, I doubt we could have been more effective. How is it that in our child-centric country, where schools and parents work mightily to remove every perceived risk from their children’s lives, we are stripping them of what is arguably their best chance at good health? It doesn’t have to be this way. While some of the root causes of our children’s physical inactivity are difficult to address, none of them is beyond us to correct. My special focus, the area in which I am most experienced and where I believe we can have the most impact, is our schools. This is the place where almost all children spend most of their waking hours, and where decisions adults make can be most consequential. Accordingly, I believe significant responsibility rests with schools to provide children with a good start in life and to equip them with the knowledge they need to live healthy lives. This requires, more than ever, effective physical education classes. Unfortunately, P.E. has slipped to the bottom of the curricular ladder in all too many schools. While I appreciate the competing concerns schools must prioritize, I believe it is time to move physical education to an upper rung as a core subject, as important as any academic endeavor such as math, history or English. If we don’t, we are jeopardizing our children’s future as surely as if we were buying them a daily pack of cigarettes….. By the time you finish this book, I hope you will have a better appreciation of how crucial physical education is for America’s children, and will join me in calling for a changed mindset that values it as greatly as any academic subject in our schools. Our country boasts one of the highest standards of living in the world, and we must find a way to give our kids the gift of physical education and fitness. This is one of the most important things we can do to ensure the next generation enjoys that same standard of living as well as a longer life expectancy.
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About the Book
Today’s high-pressure childhoods cry out for every cognitive and emotional advantage that fitness can provide, but children are staring at screens, sitting on couches, and staying inside.
William E. Simon Jr. examines the greatest threat to our children’s health in America today: the deadly duo of obesity and inactivity. As a result of these perils, children today may have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.
With the help of world-renowned medical experts, the author investigates the causes and effects of this health crisis and looks at recent research revealing the extraordinary benefits that physical activity confers on a child’s mind, body, and spirit.
If we are to give children the healthy start in life they deserve, the author contends, schools—as the place where almost all children spend most of their waking hours—must play a greater role in teaching physical literacy and providing fitness resources.
Learn why physical education is so important to children’s well-being and how you can fight the growing epidemic of inactivity in Break a Sweat, Change Your Life.
Advance Praise for
Break a Sweat, Change Your Life
[T]he current levels of obesity and inactivity in our children have become the most fearful enemies to their health. … Break a Sweat, Change Your Life thoughtfully and constructively addresses the health crisis today’s children are facing, calling on schools to implement adequate physical education programs at all grade levels in order to give our youth a strong start in life.
From the foreword by Kenneth H. Cooper, MD, MPH, “the Father of Aerobics”
Break a Sweat, Change Your Life takes a much-needed look at the deplorable lack of physical education in our nation’s schools, identifying the science behind the need for robust PE programs, as well as ways to improve the situation. Bill Simon has spent decades attempting to revitalize physical education in schools, and everyone who cares about children should read his book.
John J. Ratey, MD,
Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain
One of the best things we can do for our children is to make exercise a routine part of their lives. This is a highly readable, informative book that explains the huge physical, cognitive, and mental health benefits our children gain when we help them to stay active.
Wendy A. Suzuki, PhD,
Professor of Neural Science and Psychology at New York University and author of Healthy Brain, Happy Life
A significant amount of scientific research has demonstrated that brains, minds, and bodies of the young all benefit from exercise. Outstanding physical education programs will give middle school and high school students the skills, knowledge, and motivation to stay fit over their lifetimes. Bill Simon makes an excellent case that physical education should be valued as highly as academic studies in our schools.
Ming Guo, MD, PhD,
Professor in Neurology and Pharmacology at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
Physical education means more than exercise. It means providing children with the knowledge and understanding they need to lead healthy lives through adequate exposure to the only subject in school that nurtures the body, mind, and spirit of students. Read this book, and learn what we all need to know to help grow sound minds and sound bodies for the sake of our country’s future.
John Naber, 1976 Olympic champion swimmer, broadcaster, author, and speaker.
About the Author
William E. Simon Jr. is chair of UCLA Health Sound Body Sound Mind, a nonprofit organization he founded in 1998 to combat childhood obesity by placing fitness equipment in schools. He has been active on the boards of a number of charitable organizations concerned with children’s health and well-being. He is also a partner in Massey Quick Simon, an independent wealth management firm, and an adjunct professor in UCLA’s law school and economics department. A former Republican gubernatorial nominee in California, he lives with his wife, Cindy, in Los Angeles. They have four children.