source 5: school based physical activity

The author of this article, "School based physical activity: Has benefits even if it doesn't help lose weight", focuses on the benefits of physical activity in schools. To start off, the author shares research on school based programs. The results show that these programs increased the time children spent exercising, and reduced the amount of time spent sedentary. Cholesterol levels and blood pressure also were improved, as well as overall lung capacity. Despite all these improvements, children's weight did not seem to be impacted by the programs. Going on, the article suggests schools still continue their health promotion programs, because there are at least some beneficial effects. Some students may feel like they are forced to participate in these physical activities due to the school setting, so they should be promoted to "play" for better fitness, while still having fun.
I found this article from the Gale Cengage learning website. It comes from a magazine, the News Rx Health. This source is very reputable, because the author is a researcher who studies physical activity programs in schools. In 2009 this article was published, and there is no indication of where it was geographically written. There did not seem to be any political or cultural bias found in this source. World health Organization, Maureen Dobbins who works at the School of Nursing at McMaster University in Canada, and several studies all provide sources for this article. The intended audience is probably for students, school officials, and parents. Main points that are mentioned in the article include: School based health and exercise programs have a positive outcome despite having little effect on weight; Overweight children are more likely to become overweight as adults; Schools are an important place for promoting physical activity. Facts that are included in the article are: Research shows that school based programs increased the time children spent exercising; and Inactivity is a key factor behind 1.9 million deaths each year. An opinion that is given comes from Dobbins, who suggests the reason behind programs not improving children's weight is due to the fact they feel like it is associated with school work, and should rather be promoted as "play." The only piece of information that I didn't see in the article was, how long was the study being conducted on school based health and exercise programs? Maybe more improvements could have been seen if the study was conducted for several years.
There is only one point of view, and there are not any opposite views represented in this article. The only question that I have on this article is, why do most American schools not promote heath and wellness if it is so important for children? is it a lack of funding or time?