Studies keep turning up alarming numbers about overweight kids. Nebraska lawmakers are taking aim at obesity with an attempt to get children more active.

Students at Prairie Wind Elementary burn energy while building healthy lifestyles.

Physical Education instructor Chris Eischeid says, "We're doing things that work different parts of the body, upper body strength, lower body strength, some core strength and just some things to get the heart rate going."

Physical Education classes also help reduce obesity in kids but Eischeid is among those who think that this just isn't enough.

Chris says, "P.E. is as watered-down as it can be. We get to see students 50 to 100 minutes per week. Some grades it's only a half-an-hour a week and, you know, these kids need to move. And every kid needs to exercise."

Eischeid sees how a lack of physical activity affects these kids.

"There's students that come every day and you can tell they only exercise they get is in P.E. class," Eischeid says. "Some get really tired really fast and you can tell they don't get outside and they don't get the exercise that they need."

A legislative bill authored by State Senator DiAnna Schimek calls for increasing physical education classes from 50 minutes a week to two-and-a-half hours for first-graders while seventh and eighth-graders would see an increase to nearly four hours a week.

With an enrollment at Prairie Wind exceeding 700, those numbers would not be practical.

Even though the bill's recommendations might not be realistic without a shift in curriculum, Eischeid says something needs to be done.

He says, "We're meeting the needs of some but there's some others that don't get the exercise that they should. Those are the ones that we're missing out."

There are some things parents can do to help their children become healthier. Those include maintaining a good diet and proper nutrition as well as ensuring ample sleep and promoting a physical lifestyle.

Family activities can have an added benefit, reducing everyone's risk of heart-related diseases.