As most people know, schools today are different from 25 years ago. Everything has either doubled or tripled (with the exception of lunchtime and recess, which actually has been cut in half) over the past two decades including: peer pressure, stress from test standards, homework, assignments, projects, test scores, college credits, extracurricular activities, even obesity. In fact, in the 1970’s only 5 percent of American children were considered overweight, now it is said that 15 percent (nine million) are overweight. Becoming overweight can slowly diminish children’s health by shortening their adult lives, predispose them to diseases of the cardiovascular, respiratory, and hormonal systems, impair their mental health, and self-esteem. When I was in elementary school, I remember eating the school lunch and my favorite item was the chocolate milk. Today, I still enjoy a cup of chocolate milk (with the exception of it being soymilk). Children’s eating habits carry into adulthood. Generally, most parents want their children to be healthy. As elementary school aged children go through remarkable physical changes of all kinds, their food intake becomes a critical aspect of this growth and development. Recent research shows that nourishing food not only makes a child healthier, it makes him emotionally more stable, and it improves school performance.
It is sad to say that children today have a shorter life expectancy than their parents for the first time in one hundred years because of the epidemic of obesity, according to Dr. William Klish, Professor of Pediatrics and Head of Pediatric Gastroenterology at Baylor College of Medicine. In addition to this frightening realization, the cost of obesity to the economy has increased to $117 billion in direct and indirect annual medical costs, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Proper nutrition (exposing our children to a wide variety of healthy foods to broaden their taste) and quality, daily Physical Education would do so much for the health of this country. So, why are schools willing to undermine the health of their students by making junk food available to them? The answer of course is the root of all evil: MONEY. The money the school makes from food sales is coming from the kids themselves. In exchange for their money, the school is giving kids foods high in sugar, fat, excess calories, all while promoting unhealthy eating habits. Is it right to profit on the poor diets of children, even in the name of their own education? If schools depend financially on children eating junk foods, how can they have an interest in promoting the health and nutrition of their students? This is a difficult problem to solve, yet has been addressed and corrected by several schools.
Junk food and soft drink companies make huge profits off our school systems because they are addicting kids for life. Soft drinks boast about contributing towards education, but the fact is they drain from the communities. The children are getting the money from their parents and in return feeding these machines where the companies are walking away with their profits. Americans consume 100 and 300 calories per day in the form of high fructose corn syrup. It’s cheap and helps with weight gain. Caffeine is a stimulant that excites the nervous system, elevates moods, and speeds up the metabolism. In 2004, Sleep in America poll found 28% of 1st through 3rd graders and 18% of preschoolers drink one or more caffeinated beverages a day! Caffeine appears to be a rather benign drug for adults, and may carry some health benefits if consumed in moderation, yet it is still a drug, an addictive one. Exposing kids to addictive stimulants early in life is unnecessary and potentially harmful. Smaller bodies are more sensitive to its effects, and it interferes with sleep patterns. Federal lunch programs offer minimal control over other foods that are sold at school, often called “competitive foods” because they compete with federal lunches for children’s money and attention. USDA prohibits any foods to be sold in the same area and at the same times as meals if foods deemed to be “of minimal nutritional value”. This is why we find so many vending machines in the hallways of schools.Some schools have banned junk food and soda vendors to replace them with bottled water machines and more nutritious snack companies. Appleton Central Alternative School in Appleton, WI decided to do away with candy and soda machines. They also started ordering their nutrition program from ‘Natural Ovens’ in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. That offers a low fat, low sugar, non-chemically processed, free of dyes and preservatives, no beef, and no fried foods diet. And in return provides fresh fruit and fresh vegetables served with whole grains, where everything is baked and freshly prepared. Mind you, this school is a state school for troubled, at risk kids that have behavioral problems, yet you would never know this walking the halls of the school. The teachers and parents of Appleton Central testify to these students being more focused and having no behavioral issues. This is a huge change prior the revamped lunch menu. ‘Natural Ovens’ cost the same as most federal lunch programs, yet why do schools keep choosing to use “competitive foods”?
Nutrition facts and research on healthy eating: (Pertains to eating 5-9 servings of a wide variety of whole, colorful fruits and vegetables).•Helps insure that you consume enough of the following nutrients necessary for optimum health.
•Vitamins and minerals are natural substances found in foods that our bodies need in specific amounts everyday. Eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables of different colors is the best way to get all that you need to maintain health, feel good and be strong!
•Fiber is a natural plant substance that supports healthy digestive and elimination health.
•Phyto-chemicals are natural plant substances found in the bright colors of fruits and vegetables that promote healthy function throughout your whole body and mind!
• Anti-oxidants – plant substances that protect the body by neutralizing free radicals, or unstable oxygen molecules, which can damage cells and lead to poor health.
• Promotes optimal weight and energy levels
• Encourages healthy growth and development
• Supports healthy aging
• Reduces the risk of cancer and diabetes
• Helps digestive and elimination system health
• Supports healthy brain and memory function• Supports good eyesight and vision health
• Helps strengthen the immune system
• Helps maintain strong bones and teeth
• Promotes heart health
• Maintains urinary track health -1-
The information and knowledge that we have as a country should not be limited to certain states or schools. If we see certain program or a school succeeding, what is the harm in admitting that they are effective and the idea works! It’s time for the administration in our education systems to stop turning their heads and assuming the children are going to make the right choices. A student that just orders fries for lunch is not using it as a side dish -it is their main meal along with the soda they brought. These children are in the dark when it comes to eating a healthy balanced diet. Responsibility falls not only on the parents, yet also the place where the majority of a child’s day is spent- School. What a golden opportunity our government has to be the light and guide our future generations into a lifetime of health and wellness. Teaching children to prevent the disease process early in life. Making appropriate decisions, like a nutritious breakfast that will provide energy for several hours- until lunch. Not allowing our schools to provide addictive foods, such as doughnuts that give a quick rush of energy for only 40 minutes. Traditionally, teachers schedule “heavy” subjects, such as reading and arithmetic, during the morning hours, and so it becomes even more important that the child’s brain be fueled.There is a lack of nutrition in drinks, a 16 ounce bottle of juice, soda, or a sweetened fruit drink can pack 200 to 300 calories (same as a glazed donut, small peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or a candy bar). Children consume 10% of their daily calories as juice or soft drinks. Next to the air we breathe, water is our most primary necessity for life. Fluids fill each of our cells and bathe our tissues. They carry oxygen and nutrients throughout the body and remove wastes. Water must be constantly replaced in order to keep our bodies functioning properly. If kids lose more water than they take in, they can wind up dehydrated, a condition that can range from minor headaches and listlessness, to potentially life threatening illness. Water is in foods we eat everyday, not just from drinking. Fruits and vegetables are the most watery foods, many are 80 to 95% water. Fruits and vegetables have numerous health benefits and have been linked to lower rates of chronic disease. Most children do not eat enough. Parents, along with teachers need to be role models and teach about what they eat.Diets of most children in the United States are actually very lopsided. According to a National Health Survey, the top 10 foods contributing to the caloric intake of children aged 2 to 18 in the United States are as follows:
1. Milk 6. Soft drinks
2. Bread 7. Cheese
3. Cakes, cookies, & doughnuts 8. Potato chips, corn chips, and popcorn
4. Beef 9. Sugar, syrup, and jam
5. Ready to eat cereal 10. Poultry
Unfortunately, this equals up to be a diet out-of-balance for a lot of children in the United States. Their little bodies are deficient for certain nutrients. Starchy foods like potatoes contain carbohydrates that are so simple they behave in the body similarly to sugar. Diabetes is the most common and serious disease linked to obesity in children. Complications of diabetes may include kidney failure, nerve damage, blindness, heart disease, and stroke. Type II diabetes can be slowed or even reversed by paying close and special attention to diet and physical activity.Children not only face the risk of joining the looming diabetes epidemic, but according to a December 2004 article in Education weekly, students with health issues are not as capable of learning as are their healthy counterparts. A 2002 study by the California Department of Education presented anecdotal support for this theory. Education Weekly wrote, “Physically fit youngsters in the study posted significantly higher scores on math and reading tests, and those who met minimum fitness levels in three or more areas showed the greatest gains academic achievement.” The physical and physiological benefits alone – toned muscles, upright posture, a balanced nervous system, and free and healthy breathing patterns, among many others- are enough to set a child on a track that will serve him/her well throughout life. As the physical body comes into balance, the mind follows. Practicing yoga can help a child develop concentration, patience, gentleness, strength, creativity and stability. These are habits we’d all love to cultivate. They are the building blocks that create the foundation for a happy life. Yoga includes how you breathe, how you are listening to your body, and how your mind is focused on what you are doing now, in the present. Yoga poses, or asanas, work to strengthen the body and to calm the mind by using the breath. Yoga offers more than just physical exercise. As young people practice yoga, they can increase their self-confidence and their ability to concentrate and to focus. Yoga also fosters creativity and self-expression as children explore and develop their own variations on poses. Practicing yoga teaches kids how to relax and how to deal with stress by using breathing techniques and imagery strategies. Learning how to relax is a key to physical and mental health. The use of breathing techniques to lower stress levels and blood pressure is becoming more commonly used in part because of the important work of such doctors as Dean Ornish and Herbert Benson. A few simple breath exercises for children can teach them to use their breath, something they can always find, to calm themselves. -2-
There is a wonderful program called YogaEd that suggest the physical, mental and emotional health is directly correlated with academic success and fulfillment in life. This YogaEd models and teaches yoga education that develops what the medical profession has determined are the 2 key contributors to lifetime health and wellness: Self-awareness, Self-management and self-care. The following are a few facts that might help in seeing the desperate need for yoga in our school systems……….
Educational Wellness Facts and Challenges Teachers Face:• One in four children do not have PE in school
• Obesity and diabetes rates are at all-time high
• ADD / ADHD diagnosis rates are increasing among youth
• Increased stress and anxiety, decreased attention and social skills
• Academic achievement in public schools is at new lows
• Urban schools need support yet lack resources
• Incidences of bullying and violence in schools are increasing
Challenges Children Face:
• Emotional and physiological stress and over-stimulation
• Environmental pollution, toxins and allergens
• Inappropriate and frightening exposure to media
• Inability to self-regulate, concentrate, learn and grow
• Chronic Stress damages health and inhibits ability to learn and grow
The Impact of Yoga on Children in a School Environment:• Body movement and breath are ideal ways to de-stress
• Builds self-awareness and the ability to self-regulate effectively
• Increases self-confidence and self-control
• Mindfulness teaches how not to resist, but to be “in the moment”
• Re-enforces the ability to make good choices for themselves
• Reduces peer pressure
Research on Yoga’s Impact on Children with ADD/ADHD:In studies addressing ADD/ADHD, it was found that yoga:
• Decreased hyperactivity and impulsivity – Zipkin, 1985
• Increased self-control – Zipkin, 1985
• Increased attention spans – Zipkin, 1985
• Reduced anxiety, leading to higher IQ scores and improved complex learning skills – Proger, 1980
• Increased spatial memory – Naveen, Nagendra, Telles, 1997
Physical Fitness and NutritionIn studies addressing Physical Fitness and Nutrition, it was found that yoga:• Decreased the resting heart rate – Telles, Narendran, Raghuraj, Nagarathna, 1997
• Increased motor skills performance - Raghuraj, 1997
• Increased pulmonary function and exercise capacity – Jian, Rai, Valecha, 1991
• Increased body /self image satisfaction – Clance, Mitchell, Engleman, 1980
• Increased muscular fitness – Gharote, 1976
• Improved body weight, density, cardiovascular endurance, and anaerobic power– Bera, 1993
• Significant improvement for bronchial asthmatics (including ceasing medication) – Nagendra, Nagendra, 1986
• Decreased substance abuse by strengthening mental resolve and decreasing anxiety – Telles, Naveen, 1997
• Improved posture – Savic, Pfau, Skoric, 1990
Academic PerformanceIn studies addressing academic performance, it was found that yoga:
• Improved decision-making skills – Rozman, 1994
• Increased attention span – Zipkin, 1985• Improved communication skills – Zipkin, 1985
• Increased IQ and social adaptation – Uma, Nagendra, Nagarthna, Vaidehi, 1989
• Increased academic achievement – Zipkin, 1985
Research Abstracts on Benefits of Yoga Education
• Yoga for children is a relaxation technique that has been found to reduce stress and tension, dissipate excess energy, relieve tiredness, lengthen attention span, improve physical health, sharpen concentration, enhance mental clarity, and cultivate better interpersonal relationships.
• A recent scientific studies indicate that yoga in adults improves focus, concentration and learning readiness as well as enhances health and fitness (Wheeler & Wilkin, 2007).
• In addition, yoga can produce a calming effect, which helps children get into a frame of mind conducive to learning. For example, a recent study showed that children who participated in Yoga Ed were more relaxed, less active, and better able to concentrate. Compared with a group of students who only exercised, students who participated in yoga exhibited improved educational performance. (Gates & Wolverton, 2007).
• Yoga Ed’s programs are not only designed to reduce stress in students but they are also specifically designed for the teacher’s renewal, which is crucial today when rates of teacher burnout and attrition are high, especially in low- income schools. Average teacher attrition hovers at 46% for teachers in their first five years of teaching; turnover in hard-to-staff schools occurs at a higher rate. High poverty urban schools, for instance, lose 22% of their teachers each year, compared with only 12.8% in low-poverty schools (Ingersoll, 2004).
• Frustration with work environment, pay, and isolation are the top drivers of teacher attrition (RISE, 2007). Yoga Ed may hold promise for improving work environment because it addresses student behavioral issues which, are an essential component of maintaining a stable teaching force (Walker, Ramsey, & Gresham, 2004).
Research on the Impact of Exercise on Health and Learning: Exercise such as Yoga:
• Over-rides the body’s physiological response to stress on the body. Conscious breathing initiates the relaxation response and re-integrates the nervous system for receptivity. Yoga postures and games activate and integrate all the body’s systems to bring students back into an energized, alert state.
• Organizes whole-brain function for optimal learning. Breathing and physical activity fuels the brain and body with oxygen and glucose through blood circulation.
• Raises levels of glucose, serotonin, epinephrine and dopamine, all chemical messengers known to balance behavior and inhibit hunger. The chemical messengers present under stress usually make us want the quick fix of junk food!
• Shifts body-brain into a homeostatic state – balancing brain chemicals, hormones, electricity and the functioning of all the body’s systems, which supports making healthy food choices.
• Strengthens key area of the brain – basal ganglia, cerebellum and corpus callosum by building brain cells and connections.
• Improves mental focus and concentration (Caterino and Polk, 1999) by stimulating the frontal lobe of brain - enhancing memory, creativity and academic achievement. (Michund and Wild 1991), (Brink, 1995), (Vanves and Blanchard).
• Which include cross-lateral movements organize and stimulate the whole brain –unifying the cognitive and motor regions of brain and increasing synaptic connections (Dennison and Hannaford).
• Develops eye muscle fitness and helps with reading.
• Enhances vestibular, cerebellum and reticular activating system integration which is critical to strengthening our attention and coordination both physical and cognitive.
• Helps 85% of students who are kinesthetic learners (Hannaford). Learning through body is more powerful than learning through listening and recalling facts (Jensen). If it’s not in your body, you really haven’t learned it.
• Creates a fun, harmonious and safe way for learning and developing social skills.
• Reduces stress, increasing mind and body fitness and developing the 2 key factors of lifetime health:i. Self-awareness.ii. Self-care and management tools and techniques.iii. Prove importance of mind-body integrity with muscle testing.
• Has been correlated with improved behavior, physical fitness and academic achievement. -3-
How Yoga Ed StartedGuber (portrayed as a New Age nut out to brainwash young minds) crafted a new curriculum that eliminated chanting and translated Sanskrit into kid-friendly English. Yogic panting became “bunny breathing,” and “meditation” became “time in.” She stripped every piece of anything that anyone could vaguely construe as spiritual or religious out of the program”. Now, more than 100 schools in 26 states have adopted Guber’s “Yoga Ed.” program and more than 300 physical education instructors have been trained in it. Countless other public and private schools from California to Massachusetts — including the Aspen school where Guber clashed with parents — are teaching yoga. Teachers proclaim it helps calm students with attention-deficit disorder and may reduce childhood obesity. The federal government gives grants to gym teachers who complete a teacher training course in yoga. “I see a lot fewer discipline problems,” said Ruth Reynolds, principal of Coleman Elementary School in San Rafael. Her observation of the school’s six-year-old yoga program is that it helps easily distracted children to focus. “If you have children with ADD and focusing issues, often it’s easy to go from that into a behavior problem,” Reynolds said. “Anything you can do to help children focus will improve their behavior.” In 2003, researchers at California State University, Los Angeles, studied test scores at the Accelerated School, a charter school where Guber sits on the board and where students practice yoga almost every day. Researchers found a correlation between yoga and better behavior and grades, and they said young yogis were more fit than the district average from the California Physical Fitness Test. Guber, married to former Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Peter Guber, embraced yoga after moving to California in the 1970s. Their 13-acre Bel-Air estate includes a clifftop garden leading to a Yoga House retreat. In 2004, Americans spent almost $3 billion on yoga classes and retreats, books, DVDs, mats, clothing and related items. About 3 million American adults practiced yoga at least twice a week in 2006, more than doubling from 1.3 million in 2001, according to Mediamark Research.Despite mainstream acceptance, yoga in public schools remains touchy. Critics say even stripped-down “yoga lite” goads young people into exploring other religions and mysticism. Dave Hunt, who has traveled to India to study yoga’s roots and interview gurus, called the practice “a vital part of the largest missionary program in the world” for Hinduism. The Bend, Ore., author of “Yoga and the Body of Christ: What Position Should Christians Hold?” said that, like other religions, the practice has no place in public schools. “It’s pretty simple: Yoga is a religious practice in Hinduism. It’s the way to reach enlightenment. To bring it to the west and bill it as a scientific practice for fitness is dishonest,” said Hunt, 80. “I’ve talked to too many people who got hooked on the spiritual deception of yoga. They come to believe in this and become enamored with Hinduism or eastern mysticism,” he said. Concerns about yoga’s spiritual implications have also fueled a cottage industry of books and videos that offer the purported benefits of yoga — flexibility, strength and weight loss —without mentioning the y-word. Laurette Willis, 49, wrote an exercise regimen called “PowerMoves Kids Program for Public Schools.” The stretching routine includes pauses for children to contemplate character-building quotes from Martin Luther King Jr., Emily Dickinson, Harriet Tubman and William Shakespeare. Willis, who lives near Tahlequah, Okla., also created an exercise regimen called “PraiseMoves: The Christian Alternative to Yoga. “I’m not here to say that yoga is necessarily bad, but it is counter to what I think the public education system is for: It should have programs without any form of religious overtones whatsoever,” Willis said. The dispute confuses some yogis, particularly Westerners who say they yoga as it’s practiced in the United States is primarily about fitness and stress relief. Baron Baptiste, who owns three studios in the Boston area and practices with his 7-year-old son, loves Guber’s program. He said his son takes yoga far less seriously than he does. “We adults need to be reminded to lighten up, breathe in the joy and have some fun,” he said. -4-
Here is another article about a woman by the name of Dee Marie (M.A.,S.Y.T) in Boulder, Colorado who did a study with children participating in yoga. She realized according to the American Medical Association, studies have been reporting that there has been an increase in violence and bullying in American schools. She wanted to know what was creating these behavior patterns in children at school? As yoga therapist for 18 years, she worked with clients of all ages from infants through senior citizens, she felt an obligation to help this struggling population. She designed and implemented a yoga program specifically to address this issue of violence and bullying in the school systems. She worked for two successive years, October 2004 and 2005, in Boulder, Co., during national SAVE week–which is an acronym for Stop America’s Violence Everywhere as designated by the American Medical Association. 125 elementary students ages 9 – 11 ranging from middle to upper middle class were instructed for six 45 minutes of classical yoga, i.e., four and a half hours of yoga training for two week sessions. The children were given pre and post surveys both years with questions designed by Dr. Grace Wyshak, a professor of biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health, who also analyzed the data obtained from the surveys. The 45 minute yoga program was added into the daily academic curriculum for a two week period. Each day was crucial since the students only had six classes. Day one, Monday, the children were introduced to the concept of ahimsa: non-violence to self and toward others. After a discussion regarding this ethical standard, a 20 minute asana practice followed introducing gentle joint freeing movements and surya namaskar, as taught by Mukunda Stiles in his Structural Yoga Therapy book. The class ended with a brief transition of rest before returning to their classrooms. Day two, Wednesday, they were visually stimulated with props, imagery and games to represent the three types of breathing (chest, abdominal and inter-costal) and their effects on one’s mood and energy. After that a ten minute asana session was followed by a long relaxation in makarasana (crocodile pose a position lying in prone) which consisted of one-toone breathing practice (sama vritti ujaye breath) using numbers and phrases. Day three, Friday, the entire session focused on conflict resolution role-playing in scenarios with the subject matter volunteered by the children. Homework for the weekend was given directing the students to teach a family member anything they had learned during the three yoga classes. Day four, Monday, a third of the class time was an open discussion about their homework: what the students chose to teach and to whom. The remaining time was an asana session introducing classical asanas such as virabhadrasana 2 (warrior 2), utthita trikonasana (extended triangle pose), vrikshanana (tree pose), etc… ending with systematic relaxation in savasana, and a review of the concentration and breathing practices. Day five, Wednesday, a 30 minute session combining vinyasa and classical asanas was taught followed by enhanced concentration and breathing practices with the children on the floor in the relaxation pose of their choice. Day six, Friday, a review of all material covered, followed by more role-playing. The post program questionnaire was then given.
RESULTS FROM THE STUDENTS REPORTS:
Fall of 2004…………………………………………………………….Fall of 2005
75% decrease…………..hitting at school………………..93% decrease
76% decrease…………..hitting after school……………….68% decrease
55% decrease…………..being hit by someone…………..54% decrease
56% decrease…………..being hit by a friend…………….56% decrease
41% decrease…………..feeling bullied at school………..41% decrease
68% decrease…………..feeling angry for no reason.…..56% decrease
81% decrease……….feeling that their friends were angry at them…….59% decrease
51% increase……………ability to control anger………….50% increase
Unexpected benefits the children reported were less headaches, less fidgeting, and an overall improved ability to sleep. The smiles, hugs, enthusiastic participation combined with sincere thanks from the students, teachers and parents also proves the positive effect yoga had on these elementary students.
CONCLUSION:If children are exposed to yoga by a knowledgeable and experienced teacher a dramatic decrease in violence and aggression occurs. Only a 4 ½ hour exposure to yoga over a period of two weeks has been shown to result in up to a 93% decrease in aggressive behavior in 4th and 5th grade children. The results obtained in this study confirm that classical yoga which addresses the body, mind and spirit is an elegant tool for implementing behavioral changes when administered correctly to upper elementary age children. -5-
Illinois is the only state in America that requires P.E. for grades K-12. Naperville school in IL has 97% of their children in the healthy zone, which is unheard of in our society. There is a PE4Life program that was created by a group in Naperville Central High School, IL about 15 years ago. Within one semester of implementing a Learning Readiness PE (LRPE) class as part of the PE4life program at the Naperville PE4life Academy, students at Naperville Central High School improved their reading and math scores dramatically. The students enrolled in the LRPE prior to math improved their algebra readiness scores 20%, compared to a 2% improvement of those who didn’t take LRPE. Students taking the LRPE prior to literacy class improved their reading levels by and average of more than a full grade level (1.4), as opposed to the .9 grade level improvement of those not enrolled in LRPE. The results also displayed the importance of LRPE taken immediately prior to reading and math. It was found that students enrolled in the LRPE class right before Reading increased their literacy scores twice the percentage of those students who were enrolled in LRPE several hours before Reading class. Within one year of implementing daily PE through PE4life, Woodland Elementary in Kansas City, Missouri experienced a 67% decrease in disciplinary incidents resulting in out of school suspension. How phenomenal to see changes like that in schools due to an increase of physical activity, an increase of oxygen to the brain for those children resulted in better scores. It makes sense that doctors describe oxygen being like a fertilizer for the brain. -6-
Stories like: Guber and Marie are exciting and motivating, encouraging our schools in ways that we can lessen the pressure for our children and give hope to that 15% in need of help. To have knowledge is power and to take that power and use it as a benefit for the lives of others is compassion. The information of proper nutrition and wisdom of body mechanics in yoga, along with breathing techniques for stress relief can be an incredible success in our schools. Lives can be changed for the best our world has to offer, and that best starts with our future, our children. Let us teach them exceptionally well, so that we can have a better tomorrow and not just a better today.
ReferencesEat, Play, and Be Healthy by W. Allan Walker, M.Dwww.NaturalOvens.comhttp://www.iytogatherapy.com/news/children.htmhttp://www.russellbarkley.org/http://wholelifetimes.com/2005/wlt2710/yogakids2710.htmlSupersize Me Documentaryhttp://www.usc.edu/schools/ihp/ot/wha-is-ot/1. Nutrition Information from The American Council on Science and Health2 Create a Yoga Practice for Kids: Fun, Flexibility, and Focus by Yael and Matthew R. Calhoun3 www.yogaed.com4 Yoga causes controversy in public schools, Some parents say it violates the separation of church and state. 2007 The Associated Press (MSNBC.com)5 Yoga Keeps Me Calm, Fit and Focused; Non-violence in elementary school through yoga by Dee Marie, M.A., S.Y.T, Boulder, Co.-Nansel, T. R., Overpeck, M., Pilla, R. S., Ruan, W. J., Simons-Morton, B., & Scheidt, P. (2001).Bullying behaviors among U.S. youth: Prevalence and association with psychosocial adjustment.Journal of the American Medical Association6 www.PE4Life.org
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