Survival of the Fit: How Physical Education Ensures Academic Achievement and a Healthy Life

Young people in America are facing a health crisis of epidemic proportions--yet no one is taking action. Children are born as active, curious, imaginative beings with a built-in physical identity. Survival of the Fit offers a new and revelatory plan to nurture this identity and save the health of America's youngsters. One of the keys to this plan is rebranding physical education (PE) and making it available for every child, every day, in every year of school. In addition to establishing historical references and a scientific basis for this rebranding, the author provides a downloadable template for PE classes at all school levels. He lays out a blueprint to help educators and parents bring this "PE revolution" to their school with no increase in the school budget. Sounding the alarm regarding America's health crisis, Survival of the Fit explains how we can use existing tools, knowledge, and infrastructure to make needed changes with immediate results for every student, not just a privileged few. Everyone interested in seeing improvements in the physical, mental, and emotional health of our children will want to put this book to use.

Book Features:

• Introduces the concept of physical identity, an inborn trait that animals from octopuses to humans are born with.
• Presents the reasoning for restoring youth competitive sports to community control even for high school students.
• Discusses how we can win the war against bad food and addiction to two-dimensional entertainment.
• Showcases original research, as well as comments and criticism from active educators.

Daniel Fulham O'Neill, MD, EdD, is board-certified in orthopedic surgery and sports medicine, and holds a doctorate in exercise and sport psychology.