However, studies have shown that with influence from physical and health education a student performs better academically and will be better informed about health risks and allows them to be a healthier, happier adult.

Michigan is fortunate to have strong leadership from the Michigan Department of Community Health and the Michigan Department of Education. Through quality curricula, such as Exemplary Physical Education Curriculum, or EPEC, and the Michigan Model for Health, our state is positioned to create the knowledge, skills and attitudes to build lifelong health and wellness.

As a participant in this Legislative Education Day, I was able to meet with not only my senator and House representative, but also other concerned legislators.

Being an MSU student and Sterling Heights resident, I was one of the student participants from different colleges and universities. Throughout these meetings I realized that regulating physical and health education for students in grades K-8 will impact their entire lives.

Seeing programs that Michigan already has developed along with all the issues not having these programs implemented can cause has taught me that this is a more prominent problem than I thought.

In 2005, the National Institute on Aging released a study that concluded this generation of children will die younger than the prior generation if overweight and obesity trends continue.

Seventeen percent of youth ages 6 to 17 are overweight, which is a more than 300 percent increase since the 1970s, making this problem one we can no longer ignore.

With a social, economic and public health impact, regular physical and health education classes should be more prominent throughout schools.

Continued support of the Healthy Michigan Fund can help ensure quality curricula and training exists for schools to strive toward healthier lives for their students.

Chelsea Coley,

advertising junior and communications intern, Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness

Michigan Fitness Foundation