Bill Nelson: “as we have all heard, childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in our country. 30 percent of children between…”

“as we have all heard, childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in our country. 30 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 11 are overweight, and 15 percent are obese. The same is true for kids between the ages of 12 and 19. And the number of overweight children has increased 382 percent in 6-11 year olds and 258 percent in 12-19 years old since 1974. According to a 2001 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a poor diet and sedentary lifestyle are estimated to cause 310,000 to 580,000 deaths a year due to cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Obesity is second only to the 418,000 smoking-related fatalities as the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. And unfortunately, this obesity epidemic hits our country at the same time that state governments are cash-strapped and education programs are being cut. In my State of Florida, that means that physical education programs, among other programs, are discarded as non-essential. Specifically, in Duval County, where Jacksonville is, 29 elementary schools have no formal physical education programs. Five years ago, there were just five schools with no programs. To stem this horrible trend, I'm introducing legislation to encourage State, school districts and schools to provide physical fitness programs in their schools.”