Look Out Kids, It’s Obesity! Run!

California may be on the way to becoming the nation’s largest state in more ways than one. The San Francisco Chronicle reported this morning that just over half of the public school districts investigated by the state Education Department are not making enough time for physical education in spite of state law. The Los Angeles Unified School District was singled out by that city’s Daily News, which wrote today:

Ironically, L.A. Unified was among the first to ban soda and junk food on its campuses to curb childhood obesity. But administrators say they’ve had to sacrifice physical education while beefing up efforts to improve academic achievement.

This unfortunate news comes on the heels of a report issued last month which revealed that almost every state comes up short in physical education. Considering the various scientific findings indicating that caloric intake among the young has not increased in the last several years, while physical activity has dropped like a stone, you’d think we’d exert ourselves getting kids to exert themselves, instead of banning politically unpopular foods.