Texas lacks proper health, sex, and physical education. Being ranked first among 50 states with the highest number of childhood pregnancies (Yikes!). Texas is the fifteenth most obese state and has the fourth highest rate of diagnosed diabetes. It is also the state with the highest number of uninsured and now the number one air polluter.
Texas public schools teach abstinence-only education, basically: “Don’t have sex.” That’s great and all but, its not working. Not only is it not working, but Texas is also the biggest spender in abstinence-only education while having the highest number of pregnant children and being very close to last in family planning.
Being that Texas has three of the ‘fattest’ cities, I was surprised to find that it did not rank higher among the states; though fifteenth place is nothing to be proud of. Lifestyle diseases are the top killers. If people took preventative measures and were taught at an early age to make better choices the overall outlook would be a lot more positive for them and the collective.
Something is lacking and educating with books is only part of the answer. A pragmatic education is needed to show students ways to implement healthy activities and help them make the right choices with incentives like free healthy lunches and positive reinforcement. It would need to also be an uncensored education that reveals the grim realities of poor choices over time.
Ideally the education would begin at home and as early as possible then continued through high school. College should also continue emphasizing health awareness but less so than prior education (College students should be treated like adults unless they prove themselves otherwise).
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