Role of Schools in Boosting Physical Health

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers where they learn some basic facts of life along with moral and cultural values. School plays a very important role in the overall development of a child. School is the first interaction of the child with the outer world, probably the first place where he steps out without his parents. A school’s environment is the thread that connects the multitude of activities on a campus. Various activities along with teaching play an important role in the overall personality enhancement of an individual. In many respects, this thread of activities is almost invisible, yet everyone experiences its influence over their personality and growth.  Positive social relationships and attitudes about school are very important for the proper growth and development. Schools are considered to be the safest places for the children around the world and well-kept buildings and grounds add on to the better facilities at the school. A healthy body leads to the healthy brain.

 A safe, clean, and well-maintained school with a positive psychosocial climate and culture can foster significant motivation, which in turn boosts student and staff interest towards their work and also in some way or the other plays a positive role to boost health as well as students’ educational achievement. But from past few years, it has been witnessed that there are many health issues coming up that related to school children. Some serious problems like obesity, vision problem, low stamina and low immunity has been witnessed in about 50% of school going children. We cannot pinpoint one reason or the other for this kind of behaviour but there is an immense scope that all these problems can be overcome by improving their habits as well as physical fitness by regular exercise and participation in sports.

Various health analysts have come up with an idea that solution to this problem lies in encouraging children to exercise regularly and including healthy eating habits, and schools can play a major role in this area. It is the duty of all schools to encourage children towards physical fitness as well as healthy eating habits and schools should maintain a proper healthy environment. Creating a healthy school environment requires the involvement of virtually everyone in the school students, administrators, teachers, custodial and maintenance staff, school counsellors, school nurses, nutrition services workers.  In addition, schools need the involvement of families and environmental, public health, public safety, public welfare, and other community agencies.

Health Problems among School Going Children

Childhood is a critical period where children develop most of their habits and traits. School life is characterized by some critical changes among children and their behaviour; these may be both physical as well as psychological changes. This is the time when children should be most healthy with limited health needs, but scenario these days is quite different and school going children are dealing with some serious health issues these days which can be attributed to the fact that these days school going children are minimum on physical work, no exercise and poor eating habits as well. Some of the crucial health problems include:

• Obesity: One of the biggest health risks among school going children has been posed by obesity. Obesity is a pandemic of modern societies and data seem very alarming not just in our country but also in other countries around the world. According to a recent study, about 20.63% and 11.8% of school going boys were overweight and obese respectively. The relevant numbers for girls were 14.4% and 3.65% for overweight and obese respectively. Obesity and being overweight is very common these days. Obesity in adolescence predicts maintenance in adulthood, with various severe physical and psychological impacts. Obesity can further lead to some serious health complications. Major causes of obesity include negligence in eating habits, junk food, less physical work and exercise as well as non-indulgence in sports.
• Eating Disorders: Eating disorder is also a serious problem which at times can have some major consequences. There has been an increase in the incidence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia in the adolescent population during the past years. These are severe mental conditions with significant morbidity and mortality rates. Healthy foods like fresh fruits and fruit juice have been replaced by junk food and soft drinks. The overestimated value of a lean and slim body figure in the modern world certainly plays a significant role in the constantly elevating prevalence of eating disorders. In order to maintain a slim body a lot of girls compromise on their food which can lead to some serious health effects.
• Unhealthy Dieting Habits: Poor eating habits of adolescents may result in getting up to 50% of their daily calorie intake from fat rich junk food that includes the burger, pizza, fries and soft drinks. At the same time, their diet lacks calcium, iron and fibre sources which are very important for strong bones and other needs of the body for human growth. The above typical adolescent dietary pattern may lead to significant future health consequences.
• Mental Health: School going children may often experience distressing and disabling emotions that are sometimes part of their normal development. Though sports and yoga may provide a calm and stable mind, still most of the students do not understand the importance. However, there is an increasing incidence of mental illness globally, mainly because of the breakdown of traditional social and family structures and physical games being replaced by laptops, iPods and mobile games. According to a survey on school going children, it was found that about 13% of school going boys and 29% of girls were considered as being in a depressive emotional state. The burden of mental distress is often underestimated, while untreated mental illness in adolescence may lead to lifelong dysfunction. Fortunately, many mental problems are preventable by practising some healthy eating as well as exercising habits.
• Low Immunity: Low immunity to disease has also been witnessed among the school going children. The reason is very clear. Poor eating habits and low physical work again tops the list of reasons for low immunity among school going children. Earlier children use to spend at least 2-3 hours in the evening playing in fields which has been replaced by mobile games, laptop games, iPods and social networking sites. Also, there is no exercise routine followed by the students which are also a major reason for the problem.

Solution to the Problem

Health problems are on the rise among the school going children and it is very important to do something about this. Poor health among adolescents is a cause of major concern around the world. With rapid modernization, there has been a drastic change in the habits as well as the behaviour of the children as well as adults. Playfields have been replaced by mobile phones and laptops and physical games by video games. There is no room left for physical work and exercise. It is very important to break the ice before it gets too late, already there are a lot of children affected by these problems which at times pose some serious threats like heart diseases, asthma and problems in breathing. There is a major need for educating children towards the needs and importance of physical activities and good eating habits. Along with these, it is also very important to indulge them in regular exercise routines.

Need today is to make students aware of the needs of a healthy lifestyle and also provide a favourable atmosphere for the students to build healthy habits among them. Schools can play a major role in boosting the physical health of the students. Schools are critical for the education and health of the children. Schools are already providing key services such as health screenings, immunizations and nutritious meals but along with all these things it is also important for the schools to play an important role in boosting physical health and encourage students towards physical sports as well as exercising daily. Daily physical activity is as important to children's health and development as these other health-related services, and providing opportunities for physical activity should be a priority for all schools, both through physical education and other options.

Role of Schools in Boosting Physical Health

A school is a place where a student learns basic facts and morals of life and begins to differentiate between what is good for him and what is bad. School is meant to be a place for the overall development of children but these days most of the schools are deviating from their social and moral responsibility and are only concerned with improving their results. Teachers are working harder to improve test scores as a result kids begin spending less time exercising their bodies in physical education classes, at recess and in classroom games and activities. A recent study on a few top schools of four metros revealed school teachers cutting significant time from physical education and recess to devote more time to reading and mathematics in the classroom.

School teachers have the overall responsibility for a school’s physical and psychosocial environment.  Superintendents have the responsibility for complying with laws, rules, and education code sections that affect the school environment.  It is also the duty of the physical fitness teachers that they should be serious about creating awareness among students and not to compromise their periods for completing academic syllabus. Time for physical activities should be meant to be utilized for the same purpose only. Apart from that after assembly schools should follow a compulsory 30 minute exercise time where all students should be given time for physical work and exercise or sports, whatever they are interested in. However, putting them under the restriction of the same exercise daily may lead to boredom and may lead to students trying to skip assembly and exercise time. There are students who are interested in sports, yoga, gymnastics etc. hence they should be encouraged to follow their interest which may at times even take them to some higher levels of sports meets and they may represent their school at local, state or national or even international level and bring laurels to school.

It is the duty of every school to maintain a healthy environment for students to develop. Creating and sustaining a healthy school environment requires commitment from everyone. Everyone needs to play their role effectively. As with any systemic reorganization, change takes time sometimes years, you cannot expect to improve the system in a single day.  It is only with the time that schools will identify problems, then analyze them and make the necessary changes to overcome those problems.  Even as schools find successful solutions to one set of problems, new challenges arise. Thus, a school’s attention to the healthfulness of its environment will evolve and adapt to changing circumstances, while never losing sight of educating their students. Schools can take a few steps to help to improve the physical health of the students:

• A variety of physical activities that include aerobic and resistance exercises, structured and unstructured activities as well as sports and yoga facilities should be made available at the school
• It also the duty of school teachers to give inspirational lectures on healthy eating habits
• Provide leadership and administrative support for creating and sustaining a healthy school environment that would encourage students towards a healthy lifestyle
• Schools should regularly organize sports meet as well as sports tournaments
• Establish a set of measurable goals and objectives and design activities around improving the school’s physical and social environment
• Strictly follow physical health practices as well as regular lectures on the importance of physical activities and health
• Create a school environmental health and safety team, that includes PTA members, school officials, teachers, custodians, business and community leaders, and law enforcement officials
• Should encourage students to take parts in sports and award those who perform exceptionally well
• Develop, implement and enforce policies and a plan for creating and sustaining a healthy school environment that clearly defines acceptable and unacceptable school conditions
• Regular exercise schedule for students for at least 30 minutes after morning assembly
• Help teachers develop activities for students that emphasize the importance of an overall healthy school environment and no substitute for time meant for physical activities and games
• Empower students by involving them in planning, creating plans for physical enhancement and combine these activities with fun so that students take an extra interest
• Evaluate healthy school activities periodically to assess progress toward achieving your goals and objectives and use results to revise, improve and strengthen your program
• It's not all up to schools; families play an important role, too. But schools can serve a centre place for organizing activities and providing information as well as support.