Paxon Hollow Middle School Physical Education & Wellness

PHYS.ED./WELLNESS FACULTY
Costello, Chris
Havrilla, Deb
Rosenfeld, Glenn
Watson, Kristina
Wendler, Larry

GET UP AND MOVE!
Get your pulse up! That’s the key to success here. When you start moving your muscles, they need oxygen , and your lungs respond by taking deeper and quicker breaths. Your heart responds by speeding up to pump that oxygen enriched blood to the parts about your body that demand more! And guess what! Your body burns calories to fuel this whole process.

So how do you get your pulse up? How long should your pause be up? You can raise your pulse by doing physical activity. You can walk, skateboard, rollerblade, jog, play basketball, or just about anything else where you’re moving around and breathing a little harder. It is ideal to do activities like these once a day for at least 20 minutes. You will probably find that you actually feel pretty good after activities like these because exercise is not only healthy for
your heart, lungs, and muscles, but it’s also healthy for your brain!

So remember, “Get your pulse up.” Start slow if you haven’t been doing much physical activity lately. Try 5 minutes a day for one week. Then try 10 minutes a day the next week, and keep building up your body until you can do 20 minutes or more each day. Try to do something active right after school to refresh your body and mind. Trust me, it works! The epidemic of obesity in America is affecting children and adolescents at higher rates then ever before. Since 1980 the rates of obesity have doubled for children and tripled for adolescents. Younger people are now developing health problems that use to affect only adults such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and injury and stress to bones and joints. There are also other health problems and emotional issues related to being overweight. Many parents do not realize the additional health risks caused by extra weight their child may be carrying.

Being Overweight is a Health Hazard -- Body Mass Index (BMI) is a calculation that uses both height and weight to yield a number that correlates with and estimate of a person’s body fat. A person’s risk for health issues is related to body fat and can be assessed by the BMI. Each year as part of health screening at Paxon, BMIs are assessed and parents are informed of elevated results. Intervention
is important to address early in children who are overweight. Lifestyle changes can last a lifetime and prevent issues and diseases in the future such as heart attack, stroke, and cancer. Proper nutrition and regular exercise are the two avenues that will best address the prevention and treatment or excess body weight. Please feel free to seek the counsel and support of the Paxon staff in addressing any weight concerns you have for your child.

Helpful Welness Links:

Panaonline.org PA Advocates for Nutrition Education and Activity
Kidshealth.org
Healthiergeneration.org