Physical education should be compulsory to defeat the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. Currently in the United States of America the only state in the country that requires physical education is Illinois. (Friedin, 2014) The current rate of childhood obesity in America is staggering. With over 31% of adults and 28% of children above the obesity threshold, something needs to be done to prevent further increases. (Friedin, 2014) Making physical education a compulsory subject should help put an end to the current trends of being out of shape and overweight. Physical education is necessary to eliminate excess energy; thus leading to greater attention and concentration in classrooms. It is widely known that younger children have large amounts of excess energy. The problem with having tons of energy at school is that you lose focus on what you're working on and get easily distracted on another topic. Physical education would marshal much of that energy and allow children to focus on the task at hand. From 1991 to 1996, more than 73% of primary and secondary school children were diagnosed with some form of attention deficit disorder, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD) for short. (Morales, 2012) That's a staggering number of children with concentration problems, and the solution is simple: increase physical activity through physical education. Physical education should be compulsory because children will learn how to become a team or part of a team. Teamwork is essential in the workplace and at home. The lack of team building in the classroom can be traced back to the lack of sports and team building games used in physical education. (Erbas, 2013) Children need constant support to learn and understand what it means to be part of something bigger than themselves and the only way for this to happen is to play team sports and group-oriented activities. There is a 63% decrease in extracurricular activities after school and this is believed to be caused by the scourge of obesity that is affecting all the nation's youth. (Morales, 2012) 1 in 3 children in America are overweight or obese because they never learned proper fitness techniques and activities. They are not supported enough and are shown new creative ways to activate. Exercise classes don't have to be embarrassing, but rather a fun way to learn to embrace a healthy lifestyle.