Parents control their children's physical fitness

Just like every administration since Eisenhower, President Barack Obama wants our nation's children to be more fit. And just like every other administration, we are doing a poor job. The blame, however, shouldn't be on the president. Instead, the parents control this.

Eisenhower started the President's Council on Fitness in the 1950s after seeing a decline in overall fitness in young people. The advent of fast food, television and more people driving cars all combined to start the fattening of America. Over the years the problem has grown.

At least years ago there was much more of a push for schools to require physical education classes. Now there's an attempt to do it, but there are so many loopholes for parents to get their kids out of it that it's almost worthless. But we're not blaming the schools.

The only people who can or should be blamed are parents. They control what their children eat, and they control how much physical activity their children get. That's the bottom line here. It's shouldn't be anyone else's responsibility to make sure kids get fit.

We do believe schools should have required physical education classes. Perhaps some kids don't want these classes because they feel uncomfortable in physically competitive situations. And maybe they just don't like how physical activities feel to their body. The types of activities can be adjusted, and whether a child likes activity isn't the point, they must have it for good health. Besides, there are so many activities that are fun and provide good exercise.

The problem usually is because the child's parents aren't active, eat fast food and lay around the house after work. That's exactly how it is for most American children these days. Few have chores that require physical work. Few walk to school or run and play. It's no wonder why childhood obesity and diabetes rates are skyrocketing.

We're glad our schools require physical activity but that can only go so far. Parents must also require it, along with better eating habits. That's the key to making our children healthy again.