Fitness Fun for Everyone: Classroom Games and Activities to Support Reading and Math‪.‬

Children who are less physically active and show elevated levels of body fat and above-normal weight may not perform as well academically as those who are more physically active (American College of Sports Medicine [ACSM], 2006a). Since the 1970s, the prevalence of obesity has more than doubled for preschool children and adolescents and more than tripled for school-age children (Feeg, 2004). Without a doubt, an epidemic of physical inactivity and being overweight is threatening children in the United States. The statistics bear out that children in the United States are becoming more obese and less physically active at an unprecedented and alarming rate. In the United States, the prevalence of being overweight among children ages 6-11 years has more than doubled in the past 20 years, increasing from 7% in 1980 to 18.8% in 2004. For the same time period, the rate of being overweight among adolescents ages 12-19 more than tripled, increasing from 5% to 17.1% (Ogden et al., 2006). When discussing the topics of being overweight, being at risk for overweight, and obesity, it is important to have a working definition of these terms. According to information released by the National Task Force on Prevention and Treatment of Obesity (2000), the term "obesity," as perceived by most people, carries the connotation of being extremely overweight. Health professionals define overweight as an excess amount of body weight that includes muscle, bone, fat, and water; whereas obesity is specifically defined as an excess amount of body fat. Fat is not all bad; all individuals need a certain amount of body fat for stored energy, heat insulation, shock absorption, and other necessary body functions. According to the Partnership for Healthy Weight Management (2000), males with more than 25% body fat and women with more than 30% body fat are considered obese.