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Show Youir most parIF ents yrith children off to a new year of schooling, you're concerned about the kirid of education they are getting. You've" probably in-- 5 quired about the teachers, new teaching tools, various special programs. YOU'RE Fitness Physical dhild-ai-ad By STAN MUSIAL like And, I hope, you've checked, too, how well your children are being taught physical fitness. I bring this up because, since being named director of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, I've had a chance to notice something about many of today's parents. They begin to plan their child's education even before he is born and rightly so. But many seem to think the child's physical g just naturally will take care of itself .That's not so. It might have been true a generation or so ago when Americans led a more strenuous life. But it's now. One expert says our children are "busy but not active." Most do not exerctse-strenuousexcept those in organized: programs , at schools, community centers, and clubs and not enough kids are in these programs. I can testify to the lasting value of organized physical-fitnes- s training. My father, like most immigrants, had two dreams for his children- education and good health. As soon as each young Musial, boy well-bein- dif-fere- nt Special Consultant to the President on Physical Fitness pne-thir- Even when I developed into a major leaguer, I was thankful for that early physical training. I took many a.fall and slide in 25 years of baseball and, thanks to what I learned about coordination and tumbling, came up with darn few injuries. That "lasting value" I mentioned ? Well, back in 1960 they said Musial was an "old man" and "all washed up." My batting average in '59 had dropped to .255, yet I felt I still had something to give even though crowding 40. That winter I went back to the gym. Three or four times a week I went through exercise programs under the direction of Walter director of physical education at St. Louis University. The exercises paid off with four more good years ofjbaseball, including a 180-pou- 6-fo- .330 seasori wheiTI was 41. training isn't just for athletes. Experts agree But nd Eb-erhar- physical-fitnes- that physical s helps every person in many ways, and most certainly the sedentary person. Here are some examples: Mental fitness : "During 25 years of teaching experience, I found an undeniable correlation between physical fitness and mental fitness," says Dr. Hollis L. Caswell, president emeritus of Teachers College of Columbia University. Hearts; "Proper exercise as a way of life helps to keep hearts healthy and to prevent the onset of cardiovascular disease," says the" American Medical Association. -- Fatness: "The problem of obesity begins early in life and is as much a matter of underactivity as of overeating." says the AMA. dt, well-bein- g lyT rfjp From personal experience, this baseball great knows the importance of a problem Americans have neglected too long o girlrbecame-iine-orvrSo-P- op Would enroll a new member in 3 the athletic club in Donora, Pa. Long before I played sand-lo- t baseball, I was spending three sessions a week at the Polish Falcons A. C, marching, drilling, and work- ing out. For three "years I worked hard trying to mastertumbling, parallel bars, rings, and horse. -When I first started playing base- five-feet-fo- XT ine million more pupils now take part tnhysicalfitness" i7 programs than in 1961-6- 2; 84 per- cent of our high-schojuniors and seniors participate now, compared with 47 percent two years ago ; 53 percent of our schools increased the vigor of their programs, and 44 percent increased the amount of class time. A result: in 1961 testsof 200,000 pupils, two out of three passed ; in the same tests now, four out of five pass. We are learning to make physical fitness fun, too, instead of drudgery. For example, I visited a California high school where students are awarded different-colore- d gym in as trunks the fitthey progress ness program? A lot has been done, yet 14 of our schools still have no program, and a vast number offer the barest minimum. Ask these questions about 2ottrschool : Does it have a physical-educatio- n "program emphasizing vigorous activity and fitness? Does it include every boy and girl every day? Does it include health-instructand services? Does it screen under-- 1 developed pupils and help them?They're important questions we've neglected for a long time. Now parents are getting answers andTget-- . ting results, too, which will benefit their children for a lifetime. ol - ur L. i Retirement hasn't stopped Stan Musial from donning uniform and keeping fit. COVER: I Fall begins this Wednesday, a perfect time to strike out on a bicycle path and meet who can O has-brighte- ned. ion ball in the Mon on gahela Valley, I was called "that frail little kid." I was about and weighed about . 135 pounds, -- and -- people always were amazed that I had power- and stamina enough to play on teams with grown men. ' When the President's Council on Physical fitness was organized in 1961, these facts were painfully evd ident in statistics. Only of our youngsters could meet minimum physical-fitnes- s standards; in comparative tests between American and Western European youths, we came in a poor last. Why ? Many reasons: for example, half our youngsters did not get the daily 15 minutes of vigorous exercise basic to physical development; community programs were limited . some excluded girls entirely. With vigorous support from the White House and the grass-root- s work of educators and parents the picture Here a are few of the facts we presented to the President this month: guess what new acquaintance. The scene was caught by Sam Oppee. Family WbOiMcly September 20, 1964 v President and Publisher WAITER C. DREYFUS Associate Publisher PATRICK E. O'ROURKE Executive Vice President and Advertising Director " ' WILLIAM V. HUSSEY --A dvertising Manager MORTON FRANK Vice President. Publisher Relations LEONARD S. DAVIDOW . Advertising office: 179 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, III. 60601 Editorial office: 60 E. 56th St., New York, N.Y. 10022 Business office: 1727 S. Indiana Ave., Chicago, III. 60616 1964, PROCESSING ERNEST V. HEYN BEN KARTMAN Editor-in-Chi- ef Executive Editor ROBERT FITZGIBBON PHILLIP DYKSTRA v4 MELANIE DE PROFT Managing Editor rt Directo-rFood Editor Rosalyn Abrevaya, Arden Eidell, Hal London, Jack Ryan; Peer J. Oppenheimer, Hollywood. AND BOOKS, INC., Chicago, III. All rights reserved. |