Current status of youth fitness in United States

3^rd International Conference on Sports Medicine and Fitness

October 05-06, 2017 Barcelona, Spain

Benedict O Atakpu

Mississippi Valley State University, USA

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Sports Med Doping Stud

Abstract :

Children in the United States are fatter, slower, and weaker than their counterparts in other developed nations. In addition, US children seem to be adopting a sedentary lifestyle at early ages. Although there is no easy solution to this problem, there are specific efforts to ensure improvement in this area. For example there are programs that seek to increase physical activity both in school and at home. Daily, quality physical education in grades K-12 is mandated in all states. Schools establish fitness testing programs for children based on health-fitness parameters rather than on athletic performance variables. Parents are being educated regarding the critical importance and the multitude of benefits to be derived from their involvement in fitness-related activities with their children. At home, a healthy balance is being established between sedentary activities, e. g., television and video games, and physical activity. To ensure improvements in youth fitness across the United States, other interventions have been initiated such as appropriate involvement of local communities, state and federal governments, the medical health professions, and the media.