Schools are Teaching our Children to be Sedentary and Obese

I recently read an interesting article in the New York Times entitled “Is Sitting a Lethal Activity“?  While I was reading the article it occurred to me that most schools are rewarding the most sedentary children and punishing children whose bodies are doing everything they can to get the exercise they need.

My son is one of those “wiggly” kids.  He’s a 2nd grade student, “all boy”, and he has always struggled in school to “keep still” and “sit quietly”.  Things are better this year because we enrolled him in a Montessori school where he has more freedom to move around but it’s still an issue.  In the public school he attended for Kindergarten and 1st grade we were always hearing from his teachers, even his gym teacher, that he needs to exercise better self control in class – meaning he has trouble sitting still and listening to them lecture.  Wouldn’t it be ironic if his “problem behavior” was actually a much healthier way to conduct himself?