by Kids that eat too much junk food and exercise too little are prime candidates for diabetes, one study shows. This makes sense, doesn’t it?
So what’s the problem? Are families too busy making ends meet and/or keeping up with the Joneses to play ball with their kids? Spending too much time stuck in traffic to teach Junior how to ride his bike? Too afraid to let their kids play outside unsupervised due to rampant crime? All of the above?
Schools are not helping. Between awarding cafeteria contracts to fast food chains and condoning soda swigging in classrooms, public schools are fattening up our kids like cattle. To make the problem worse, the amount of time spent on physical education is inadequate and the intensity level too low.
Another trend is problematic as well: the ever-increasing population in our schools. Regardless of how many students there are, the football team only has room for 40 or so players. This lessens the number of kids who can participate in athletic activities even further. Considering the other problems created by these gargantuan schools such as long bus rides, inadequate security, etc., one wonders whether the benefits of large schools are worth the cost.
