ThisistheVOASpecialEnglishEducationReport.
Toomucheating.Toomanyunhealthyfoods.Toomanyadvertisementsforfood.Toolittleactivity.
DifferentexplanationsareofferedforAmerica'sweightproblem体重问题--aproblemincreasinglysharedbyothercountries.Almostone-fifthofAmericanchildrenandteenagersareoverweight.
Schoolshavebeenurgedtoincreasephysicaleducation,animportanttoolforpublichealth.Andmanyhave.Yetnowcomesastudyshowinganincreaseinthenumberofinjuriesin"physed"class.Injuriesincreasedonehundredfiftypercentbetweennineteenninety-sevenandtwothousandseven.
Thestudyinvolvedinjuriestreatedinhospitalemergencydepartments急症室.Onlytwopercentwereserious.
Theresearchersdidnottrytoidentifythecausesoftheincrease,buttheyhavesometheories.
LaraMcKenziefromOhioStateUniversity俄亥俄州立大学wastheleadresearcher.Shesaysonepossibilityisadecreaseinthenumberofschoolnursesduringtheperiodtheystudied.Forexample,atwothousandfourstudyshowedthatthenumberofschoolnursesnationallyfailedtomeetfederalguidelines.
Schoolswithoutanurseondutymaybemorelikelytosendaninjuredchildtoahospital.
Anotherpossiblereasonformoreinjuriesisachangeinthetraditionalideaofphysicaleducation.This"NewP.E."expandsthekindsofsportsthataretaught.Butactivitiesthatsomeschoolsoffernow,likerockclimbingwallsandskateboarding,canalsoexpandtherisks,saysCherylRichardson.SheiswiththeNationalAssociationforSportandPhysicalEducation全国体育与体育教育协会.
Also,shesaysnotallstatesrequireP.E.teacherstobespeciallytrained.Untrainedteacherscouldbelesslikelytorecognizeunsafeconditions.
CherylRichardsonalsopointstooneofthestudy'sfindings--thatinjuriesareoftentheresultofcontactwithapersonorastructure.Thistellsherthattheteacherswerenotgivingeachstudentenoughspacetomovearoundsafely.
Sixactivitiesproducedseventypercentofallinjuries:running,basketball,football,volleyball,soccerandgymnastics.
ThestudyappearedonlinethisweekinPediatrics,thejournaloftheAmericanAcademyofPediatrics美国儿科协会.
Theresearcherssaylargerclasssizesareanotherpossiblereasonfortheincreaseininjuries.Largerclassescanmeanlesssupervision.TheNationalAssociationforSportandPhysicalEducationsaystwentytothirtystudentsinaP.E.classshouldbethelimit.