Physical education provides opportunities for regular physical activity and planned, sequential skill-building for life-long physical fitness. Regular physical activity is connected with many physical and mental benefits for children and the adults they will become. Physical activity has been associated with higher academic performance, increased self-esteem, and lower levels of anxiety and stress. In 2003, only 28 percent of adolescents participated in daily physical education. Schools have a unique ability to teach students the benefits of physical activity because they serve most children in the United States and they have facilities and staff to provide quality physical education. It is important that children begin engaging in physical activity at a young age, because dietary and physical activity patterns are usually well established by adolescence.
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