MONDAY MEMO

 Announcements
 Authorized
    Absences
 Calendar
 Classifieds
 Employment
 Meetings
 News
 Personnel Briefs
 Meeting Minutes
 Feedback

MORE INFORMATION
Publication Dates
Publication Deadlines
Monday Memo Policy

FORMS
Submit Absences
Submit Announcement
Submit Classified Ad

May 1 - 7 is National Physical Education and Sport Week. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education promotes this week because they believe that lifelong physical activity is important. The following points excerpted from an article by Dr. Barbara A. Brehm in Fitness Management, 1990, point out the benefits of physical activity.

Reasons To Keep Exercising

1. Regular aerobic exercise helps prevent heart disease.
2. An additional cardiovascular benefit of aerobic exercise is that it helps to normalize blood pressure, especially in people whose blood pressure is somewhat elevated.
3. Exercise improves the body's ability to regulate blood, sugar, thus reducing the risk of Type II diabetes.
4. Weight-bearing exercise prevents the loss of bone mineral that occurs as we age, which can lead to a condition known as osteoporosis. Weight-bearing exercise includes walking, jogging, aerobic dance, racquet sports - any activity that applies some force to the bones.
5. Physical activity also strengthens the muscles and joints and other structures that help hold the body together, like tendons and ligaments.
6. Exercise helps control body weight and is essential in any weight-loss program. Exercise burns calories, and weight lost through a program of a low-fat diet and exercise is more likely to be fat loss, rather than water or muscle tissue loss.
7. By preventing the loss of metabolically active muscle tissue (lean body mass), exercise helps prevent the drop in metabolic rate that sometimes accompanies weight loss and the gradual decline in metabolic rate that occurs as we age.
8. In fact, in many ways exercise is the antithesis of aging. Exercise can slow the loss of stamina, strength, flexibility, bone density, metabolic rate and general enthusiasm for being active that seems to go with getting older. Exercise gives us the ability to maintain an independent lifestyle and increases the likelihood that we'll enjoy our post-retirementyears.
9. Maintaining flexibility in the muscles of the legsand lower back, and strength in abdominal and back muscles can help prevent the development of back problems that can be debilitating and very painful.
10. Exercise makes life more fun! As fitness improves, activity becomes easier, and we're more likely to go out for a hike or enjoy a day of skiing. Exercise increases our stress-resistance, helps us feel more relaxed and even sleep better.

How does this information about the importance of physical activity relate to National Physical Education and Sport Week? Well, if we believe in the benefits of physical activity, we can help promote physical activity in children. One, we can be role models; by engaging in physical activity ourselves, we allow children to see that physical activity throughout the lifetime is important and can be fun. Second, we can advocate that schools in our area provide quality physical education for children so that they learn the importance of physical activity and they learn enough skill that physical activity can be fun.