Crowley 1 Alex Crowley Megan Keaton English 111-11 July 10, 2013 The Decline of Physical Activity Physical

Activity seems to be a thing of the past. Knowledge of various reasons why physical activity is on the decline is import to know if we the people are to become aware and take action. In adults but mostly adolescence there has been a decrease in health and fitness. People have gotten unhealthy and distracted, and whats worse they have become tolerant of this behavior. In this paper I will explore several causes of this issue as to why people are becoming unmotivated and why this trend has occurred. Health is very important and should not be overlooked. Health and physical activity can be directly related to a persons environment. Studies have been conducted with the conclusion that physical activity levels in children are positively associated with encouragement. There is a significant difference when a child experiences verbal or sees physical encouragement examples and peer pressure. However, in recent years peer pressure has had a more negative effect. Because people now take less care of their health and they themselves do not partake in physical activity it sends out a message that this type of behavior is not only acceptable but average, everyones doing it which makes it okay to them. If no one around the child speaks of, or they themselves do not exercise then the child is far less likely to be involved in physical activity (Maturo et al 1). One cannot help but wonder why physical activity is on the decline. A reason that may very well contribute to health behavior getting more attention is social influence. As stated earlier, when a child does not see or hear verbal or literal encouragement through example from friends or family exercising

Crowley 2 themselves then they are far more likely to become less active physically. These days it is becoming more and more acceptable to be less active and unhealthy as The Center of Disease Control comments American males and females have gained an average 24 or more pounds from the last 19th century to early 20th century (Hitti 1). Not to mention the increase in obesity, there is clearly a reason for concern here. In fact, physical inactivity is one of the most important public health problems of the 21st century (Blair 1) A major concern is the publics decision making, primarily on dieting. They are caught up in the pleasure of convenience of both quick food and entertainment. To eat a healthy and to maintain a good diet takes constant effort. It is also at a higher cost. It is far more time consuming and cost far more to eat healthy. If say a person were to become hungry on the way home from work after sitting at a desk all day, theyre tired and in a hurry to get home to rest. They are likely to stop at a fast food store than to go grocery shopping and cook a nutritional meal for dinner. This being said there are only a select few places that sell decent meals quickly though more expensive whereas there are numerous places that will serve a tasty yet completely unhealthy meal at a very reasonable price off their dollar menu. Again we see that the unhealthy preferred option is much more affordable in expense and time. Convenience has caused people to exert less energy to find entertainment and to eat unhealthy. Because people are having such an unhealthy diet they get a sluggish feeling that causes them to become immobilized. A balanced diet gives us the energy we need to be physically active. One cannot feel like a million bucks when eating from the dollar menu. On the other hand one will find that healthy athletic people take the time to plan out their meals and what they intake. They drink plenty of water and do not over consume. Whatever is consumed then is put to use in physical activity rather than convenient inside entertainment that requires no exertion of energy.

Crowley 3 Activity at youth dictates the adults activity rate. Nowadays almost all entertainment is inside and electronic. Children are laying around on electronics instead of being physically active. This trend will have a very negative effect on their lives of future health. Physical activity tracks across life and activity levels in adolescence predict adult levels. (Maturo et al 1) But not just kids, everyone seems to be distracted by technologies left and right. Vishal, a bright 17-year-old plays video games 10 hours a week. He regularly sends Facebook status updates at 2 a.m., even on school nights (WEBSITE 3) His principal, David Reilly decided to move back the first period of the day to a much later time because his students were showing up, but utterly exhausted. (WEBSITE 3) Students were staying up very late playing with their video games and Facebook accounts and it was affecting them physically. In conclusion to the four causes of this trend on decreased physical activity I would like to say that I find this all very wrong. People are being Socially Influenced to accepting this trend. Because we live in a time of Convenience people have grown lazy. Because so much Entertainment is Found Inside no one is going outside to be active. Because of the average Diet no one has the energy to want to change this and become active. However, there are many things we can do to help fix this issue. Encourage your friends and family to exercise more regularly, even if its just going for a walk every day. Put down your computer and video games and invite you friends to play outside instead. If your job requires sitting down throughout the day, bike to work or plan regular exercise accordingly. Next time youre hungry eat an apple instead of a McDouble. When you go to the grocery store, look into what youre really eating. Stop being so distracted, and take the time to eat healthy and exercise if not only occasionally. You can make a difference, lead by example. Taking pride in your appearance and fitness will cause your friends and family to notice, and it could have a very positive and hopefully rippled effect.

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Miranda Hitti. Average Weight for Americans Growing Heavier. WebMD Health News (2004). June 26 2013. Maturo, Claire, C., and Solveig, A. Cunningham. "Influence Of Friends On Children's Physical Activity: A Review."American Journal Of Public Health 103.7 (2013): e1-e16. CINAHL with Full Text. Web. 19 June 2013. Steven N Blair. Physical inactivity: the biggest public health problem of the 21st century. British Journal of Sports Medicine. Volume 43 Issue 1. April 23, 2009. June 27, 2013 Matt Richtel. Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction. The New York Times. November 21, 2010. June 29, 2013