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Basic human physiology & nutrition in schools
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PE is a whole 'nother ball of wax. The majority of adults I have met who claim to "hate" exercise also have horror stories about PE. PE is good for the kids that are athletic but it can be torture for the kids who aren't. PE should be about getting kids to like exercise, not about new ways to bully the kids who don't like sports.5
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Packerjohn wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »They have no teachers who have a vast knowledge teaching them. Most will just go by the governments food pyramid and tell the kids that it's important they follow it. Even in most elementary schools now, PE is taught by the homeroom teacher, and they have NO EXPERIENCE in physical fitness at all.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
The problem with PE in the schools is we have gotten too politically correct to make the kids actually put in some effort. Growing up, we ran laps and if we walked we had to run extra. Now, you go by a school and the kids are strolling around the track, if not stopping to talk or look at their phones.
If a teacher actually makes them put in some effort, kids complain to the parents who are in the principal's office demand the "mean" PE teacher be fired.
Yes it does happen.
What is wrong with walking around a track? Walking is good exercise.
Nothing wrong with walking as done at a brisk pace for exercise. Much too often you see kids slowly strolling, stopping looking at phones, etc.
So in their case not real effective.
I look at my phone while walking. Helps to pass the time.
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Gallowmere1984 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »They have no teachers who have a vast knowledge teaching them. Most will just go by the governments food pyramid and tell the kids that it's important they follow it. Even in most elementary schools now, PE is taught by the homeroom teacher, and they have NO EXPERIENCE in physical fitness at all.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
The problem with PE in the schools is we have gotten too politically correct to make the kids actually put in some effort. Growing up, we ran laps and if we walked we had to run extra. Now, you go by a school and the kids are strolling around the track, if not stopping to talk or look at their phones.
If a teacher actually makes them put in some effort, kids complain to the parents who are in the principal's office demand the "mean" PE teacher be fired.
Yes it does happen.
What is wrong with walking around a track? Walking is good exercise.
Nothing wrong with walking as done at a brisk pace for exercise. Much too often you see kids slowly strolling, stopping looking at phones, etc.
So in their case not real effective.
I look at my phone while walking. Helps to pass the time.
I'm guessing anyone walking for purposeful exercise is walking faster than the typical gym class is.0 -
Sorry but I don't need the government "educating" (if you can even call it that) my future kids about food. Hell, I would prefer that they stick to the education basics (math, science, writing etc.) and leave the rest to their mother and myself.
Good idea in theory, but remember 70% of the US is overweight/obese and no state has more that 30% of the population eating 3 vegetables a day. You have to wonder about the parent's ability to educate.
It needs to be a school/parent team. Maybe a requirement for kids going into kindergarten would be the parents take a basic nutrition class?1 -
PE is a whole 'nother ball of wax. The majority of adults I have met who claim to "hate" exercise also have horror stories about PE. PE is good for the kids that are athletic but it can be torture for the kids who aren't. PE should be about getting kids to like exercise, not about new ways to bully the kids who don't like sports.
One of the problems with PE classes from my old memories is they were boring; they were designed to be easy to grade and screw actually doing things that are useful.0 -
CipherZero wrote: »PE is a whole 'nother ball of wax. The majority of adults I have met who claim to "hate" exercise also have horror stories about PE. PE is good for the kids that are athletic but it can be torture for the kids who aren't. PE should be about getting kids to like exercise, not about new ways to bully the kids who don't like sports.
One of the problems with PE classes from my old memories is they were boring; they were designed to be easy to grade and screw actually doing things that are useful.
Pretty much this. The only time I ever actually participated in PE as a kid, was during the "Presidential Tests" for things like pullups, pushups, and situps. Any other time, I just refused to change into my uniform and got to spend the class on the bleachers, reading a book, for my efforts.0 -
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »CipherZero wrote: »PE is a whole 'nother ball of wax. The majority of adults I have met who claim to "hate" exercise also have horror stories about PE. PE is good for the kids that are athletic but it can be torture for the kids who aren't. PE should be about getting kids to like exercise, not about new ways to bully the kids who don't like sports.
One of the problems with PE classes from my old memories is they were boring; they were designed to be easy to grade and screw actually doing things that are useful.
Pretty much this. The only time I ever actually participated in PE as a kid, was during the "Presidential Tests" for things like pullups, pushups, and situps. Any other time, I just refused to change into my uniform and got to spend the class on the bleachers, reading a book, for my efforts.
If I was the teacher, unless there was a medial excuse not to dress, the kids would dress. If they refused, they would have a detention, get points taken off for the class, sent to the office or whatever was the school's policy.
The kids should not be running the school.1 -
Packerjohn wrote: »Gallowmere1984 wrote: »CipherZero wrote: »PE is a whole 'nother ball of wax. The majority of adults I have met who claim to "hate" exercise also have horror stories about PE. PE is good for the kids that are athletic but it can be torture for the kids who aren't. PE should be about getting kids to like exercise, not about new ways to bully the kids who don't like sports.
One of the problems with PE classes from my old memories is they were boring; they were designed to be easy to grade and screw actually doing things that are useful.
Pretty much this. The only time I ever actually participated in PE as a kid, was during the "Presidential Tests" for things like pullups, pushups, and situps. Any other time, I just refused to change into my uniform and got to spend the class on the bleachers, reading a book, for my efforts.
If I was the teacher, unless there was a medial excuse not to dress, the kids would dress. If they refused, they would have a detention, get points taken off for the class, sent to the office or whatever was the school's policy.
The kids should not be running the school.
Oh yeah, no, I failed the class miserably and didn't care.0 -
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Gallowmere1984 wrote: »CipherZero wrote: »PE is a whole 'nother ball of wax. The majority of adults I have met who claim to "hate" exercise also have horror stories about PE. PE is good for the kids that are athletic but it can be torture for the kids who aren't. PE should be about getting kids to like exercise, not about new ways to bully the kids who don't like sports.
One of the problems with PE classes from my old memories is they were boring; they were designed to be easy to grade and screw actually doing things that are useful.
Pretty much this. The only time I ever actually participated in PE as a kid, was during the "Presidential Tests" for things like pullups, pushups, and situps. Any other time, I just refused to change into my uniform and got to spend the class on the bleachers, reading a book, for my efforts.
If I was the teacher, unless there was a medial excuse not to dress, the kids would dress. If they refused, they would have a detention, get points taken off for the class, sent to the office or whatever was the school's policy.
The kids should not be running the school.
Oh yeah, no, I failed the class miserably and didn't care.
Okay, that's fair, the school did what they should have and you accepted the consequences.1 -
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »CipherZero wrote: »PE is a whole 'nother ball of wax. The majority of adults I have met who claim to "hate" exercise also have horror stories about PE. PE is good for the kids that are athletic but it can be torture for the kids who aren't. PE should be about getting kids to like exercise, not about new ways to bully the kids who don't like sports.
One of the problems with PE classes from my old memories is they were boring; they were designed to be easy to grade and screw actually doing things that are useful.
Pretty much this. The only time I ever actually participated in PE as a kid, was during the "Presidential Tests" for things like pullups, pushups, and situps. Any other time, I just refused to change into my uniform and got to spend the class on the bleachers, reading a book, for my efforts.
In my PE class they decided on a sport, set it up and threw you a ball. I hated playing sports. I was bad at it and didn't care if I hit or caught the ball. I loved to walk and did lots of it, but walking was not good enough. So I dressed, but mostly stood there, got my grade and left. A lot of kids felt humiliated by gym class and took the bad grades, refusing to dress.
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Packerjohn wrote: »Gallowmere1984 wrote: »CipherZero wrote: »PE is a whole 'nother ball of wax. The majority of adults I have met who claim to "hate" exercise also have horror stories about PE. PE is good for the kids that are athletic but it can be torture for the kids who aren't. PE should be about getting kids to like exercise, not about new ways to bully the kids who don't like sports.
One of the problems with PE classes from my old memories is they were boring; they were designed to be easy to grade and screw actually doing things that are useful.
Pretty much this. The only time I ever actually participated in PE as a kid, was during the "Presidential Tests" for things like pullups, pushups, and situps. Any other time, I just refused to change into my uniform and got to spend the class on the bleachers, reading a book, for my efforts.
If I was the teacher, unless there was a medial excuse not to dress, the kids would dress. If they refused, they would have a detention, get points taken off for the class, sent to the office or whatever was the school's policy.
The kids should not be running the school.
No, the kids shouldn't be running things. However, if the purpose of PE is to teach kids to be active, they need to focus on a variety of activities, rather than certain sports that only a few can or will excel at. In my experience, the kids who did well at sports in PE already played them outside of class. I could never really see the point of playing it in class as well. The kids who didn't do well at sports were subjected to harassment and bullying, sometimes by the teachers themselves, and grew up to hate exercise.1 -
Packerjohn wrote: »Gallowmere1984 wrote: »CipherZero wrote: »PE is a whole 'nother ball of wax. The majority of adults I have met who claim to "hate" exercise also have horror stories about PE. PE is good for the kids that are athletic but it can be torture for the kids who aren't. PE should be about getting kids to like exercise, not about new ways to bully the kids who don't like sports.
One of the problems with PE classes from my old memories is they were boring; they were designed to be easy to grade and screw actually doing things that are useful.
Pretty much this. The only time I ever actually participated in PE as a kid, was during the "Presidential Tests" for things like pullups, pushups, and situps. Any other time, I just refused to change into my uniform and got to spend the class on the bleachers, reading a book, for my efforts.
If I was the teacher, unless there was a medial excuse not to dress, the kids would dress. If they refused, they would have a detention, get points taken off for the class, sent to the office or whatever was the school's policy.
The kids should not be running the school.
No, the kids shouldn't be running things. However, if the purpose of PE is to teach kids to be active, they need to focus on a variety of activities, rather than certain sports that only a few can or will excel at. In my experience, the kids who did well at sports in PE already played them outside of class. I could never really see the point of playing it in class as well. The kids who didn't do well at sports were subjected to harassment and bullying, sometimes by the teachers themselves, and grew up to hate exercise.
Yeap. If they'd have let me use the "football players only" weight room during gym class, instead of stupid *kitten* like volleyball, soccer, the electric slide, and dodgeball, I'd have been all up in it, and probably would have been completely jacked by graduation day, instead of the lazy, fat piece of *kitten* that I was. Dem teenager test levels.0 -
Teaching kids effective research methods, data analysis, and critical thinking would be extremely helpful preparation for their future challenges, nutritional and otherwise. It's the old "give a man a fish" versus "teach a man to fish".0
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spinnerdell wrote: »Teaching kids effective research methods, data analysis, and critical thinking would be extremely helpful preparation for their future challenges, nutritional and otherwise. It's the old "give a man a fish" versus "teach a man to fish".
Very true. Given that the science of nutrition and exercise are ever evolving (sometimes in the wrong direction, sometimes not), it would be immensely helpful to teach people to separate the good information from the *kitten*. Unfortunately, critical thought hasn't been on the public school agenda for a long time.3 -
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »They have no teachers who have a vast knowledge teaching them. Most will just go by the governments food pyramid and tell the kids that it's important they follow it. Even in most elementary schools now, PE is taught by the homeroom teacher, and they have NO EXPERIENCE in physical fitness at all.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
The problem with PE in the schools is we have gotten too politically correct to make the kids actually put in some effort. Growing up, we ran laps and if we walked we had to run extra. Now, you go by a school and the kids are strolling around the track, if not stopping to talk or look at their phones.
If a teacher actually makes them put in some effort, kids complain to the parents who are in the principal's office demand the "mean" PE teacher be fired.
Yes it does happen.
What is wrong with walking around a track? Walking is good exercise.
Nothing wrong with walking as done at a brisk pace for exercise. Much too often you see kids slowly strolling, stopping looking at phones, etc.
So in their case not real effective.
I look at my phone while walking. Helps to pass the time.
Me too, i save the big debate threads for when i'm walking. I have however broken 2 toes while getting the walking/reading down pat.3 -
Christine_72 wrote: »Gallowmere1984 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »They have no teachers who have a vast knowledge teaching them. Most will just go by the governments food pyramid and tell the kids that it's important they follow it. Even in most elementary schools now, PE is taught by the homeroom teacher, and they have NO EXPERIENCE in physical fitness at all.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
The problem with PE in the schools is we have gotten too politically correct to make the kids actually put in some effort. Growing up, we ran laps and if we walked we had to run extra. Now, you go by a school and the kids are strolling around the track, if not stopping to talk or look at their phones.
If a teacher actually makes them put in some effort, kids complain to the parents who are in the principal's office demand the "mean" PE teacher be fired.
Yes it does happen.
What is wrong with walking around a track? Walking is good exercise.
Nothing wrong with walking as done at a brisk pace for exercise. Much too often you see kids slowly strolling, stopping looking at phones, etc.
So in their case not real effective.
I look at my phone while walking. Helps to pass the time.
Me too, i save the big debate threads for when i'm walking. I have however broken 2 toes while getting the walking/reading down pat.
Luckily, with me working at night, I am often near big empty parking lots that I can just stroll around while reading. Peripheral vision does have to be acknowledged though, as there are *kitten* who like to come tearing through parking lots at 60 mph in the middle of the night, assuming no one's in it.0 -
Gallow can you type and speed walk? Someone asked me why so many of my posts are edited, trying to type and walk fast, especially when it's bright and sunny outside is quite the feat lol Some of my posts come out a jumbled mess
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Christine_72 wrote: »Gallow can you type and speed walk? Someone asked me why so many of my posts are edited, trying to type and walk fast, especially when it's bright and sunny outside is quite the feat lol Some of my posts come out a jumbled mess
Kinda. However, I am heavily impaired by the fact that I am still using an iPhone 5s with a screen cracked all to hell, and have fat thumbs.0 -
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »Gallow can you type and speed walk? Someone asked me why so many of my posts are edited, trying to type and walk fast, especially when it's bright and sunny outside is quite the feat lol Some of my posts come out a jumbled mess
Kinda. However, I am heavily impaired by the fact that I am still using an iPhone 5s with a screen cracked all to hell, and have fat thumbs.
Fat thumbs AND a cracked screen AND walking, haha nah i couldnt do it
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Gallowmere1984 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Gallowmere1984 wrote: »CipherZero wrote: »PE is a whole 'nother ball of wax. The majority of adults I have met who claim to "hate" exercise also have horror stories about PE. PE is good for the kids that are athletic but it can be torture for the kids who aren't. PE should be about getting kids to like exercise, not about new ways to bully the kids who don't like sports.
One of the problems with PE classes from my old memories is they were boring; they were designed to be easy to grade and screw actually doing things that are useful.
Pretty much this. The only time I ever actually participated in PE as a kid, was during the "Presidential Tests" for things like pullups, pushups, and situps. Any other time, I just refused to change into my uniform and got to spend the class on the bleachers, reading a book, for my efforts.
If I was the teacher, unless there was a medial excuse not to dress, the kids would dress. If they refused, they would have a detention, get points taken off for the class, sent to the office or whatever was the school's policy.
The kids should not be running the school.
No, the kids shouldn't be running things. However, if the purpose of PE is to teach kids to be active, they need to focus on a variety of activities, rather than certain sports that only a few can or will excel at. In my experience, the kids who did well at sports in PE already played them outside of class. I could never really see the point of playing it in class as well. The kids who didn't do well at sports were subjected to harassment and bullying, sometimes by the teachers themselves, and grew up to hate exercise.
Yeap. If they'd have let me use the "football players only" weight room during gym class, instead of stupid *kitten* like volleyball, soccer, the electric slide, and dodgeball, I'd have been all up in it, and probably would have been completely jacked by graduation day, instead of the lazy, fat piece of *kitten* that I was. Dem teenager test levels.
This is why I loved my high school. We had a variety of PE classes to take if we wanted to. Regular (different sports), Weight training, yoga, and walking (basically speed walking across the city).
Took regular once(remembered how much i hated it, walking twice loved it. Then had to switch to weight training due to taking college classes and I ended up loving it more than I thought I would.
I think all schools should have a variety of classes avaliable. Though I imagine a lot of schools can't afford it.0 -
Who gets to set the curriculum? Are you going to teach a paleo diet? Primal? Vegetarian? Vegan? Carnivorous? Ketogenic? LCHF? IIFYM? Moderation? None of those will be right for everyone or even stay right for the individual throughout their life.
I agree with whoever brought up the age it is taught as an issue too. Kids have very little control over their diets beyond what mom and dad offer or what is in the cafeteria or school vending machines.
It would be like teaching a musical instrument but never letting them handle the instrument.
You might not be able to teach all those kinds of eating to elementary school kids, but as with anything, you grow knowledge base from the bottom up. There's no reason why a junior high or high school child could not learn all of those and what it means. I took a comparative religions elective in high school... why not a comparative diets course? And starting in Junior High, we had cooking class. So even if I couldn't cook at home, I was cooking in school. I wish it had been mandatory for longer...
Even if starting at the bottom means starting with the government's food plate or pyramid and showing there are alternatives or possible problems with it later, it's still a lot better than knowing nothing much at all. They may be grain heavy in general, but do make mention of oils, veg, fruit, protein, dairy, serving size (that ever confusing serving size term ugh) etc. as part of a balanced diet. A little too many grains is better than a lot too much of whatever is causing the obesity "epidemic"! That's like starting teaching finances by teaching spending, budgeting and saving habits. You don't just jump into the stock market and ETFs and insurance types right from the get go!
I've even seen groups here on MFP that are for classes! They'll be labeled "So-and-so's Class 3 Nutrition and PE Class" or whatever (I am not sure how they get away with being under 18 and on MFP... but I'm not questioning that at the moment...)0 -
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Gallowmere1984 wrote: »CipherZero wrote: »PE is a whole 'nother ball of wax. The majority of adults I have met who claim to "hate" exercise also have horror stories about PE. PE is good for the kids that are athletic but it can be torture for the kids who aren't. PE should be about getting kids to like exercise, not about new ways to bully the kids who don't like sports.
One of the problems with PE classes from my old memories is they were boring; they were designed to be easy to grade and screw actually doing things that are useful.
Pretty much this. The only time I ever actually participated in PE as a kid, was during the "Presidential Tests" for things like pullups, pushups, and situps. Any other time, I just refused to change into my uniform and got to spend the class on the bleachers, reading a book, for my efforts.
If I was the teacher, unless there was a medial excuse not to dress, the kids would dress. If they refused, they would have a detention, get points taken off for the class, sent to the office or whatever was the school's policy.
The kids should not be running the school.
No, the kids shouldn't be running things. However, if the purpose of PE is to teach kids to be active, they need to focus on a variety of activities, rather than certain sports that only a few can or will excel at. In my experience, the kids who did well at sports in PE already played them outside of class. I could never really see the point of playing it in class as well. The kids who didn't do well at sports were subjected to harassment and bullying, sometimes by the teachers themselves, and grew up to hate exercise.
Yeap. If they'd have let me use the "football players only" weight room during gym class, instead of stupid *kitten* like volleyball, soccer, the electric slide, and dodgeball, I'd have been all up in it, and probably would have been completely jacked by graduation day, instead of the lazy, fat piece of *kitten* that I was. Dem teenager test levels.
A friend and I tried to use the weight room in high school as well but were told a resounding no by the football team because they didn't want girls in there. The posters at MFP wonder why so many are intimidated by going into a gym as adults. I'd be willing to bet the ones intimidated have at least one issue stemming from PE.4 -
Should a greater emphasis be put on basic physiology and nutrition to be taught in schools. With some of the things you see people ask around here, it seems that a lot could be accomplished with teaching people the basics about carbs, protein & fat and how the body processes the food that you eat. Maybe it would head off much of the bro science and other info-mercial nonsense that is believed.
Well, such education happens in the UK, but we still have fat people.
Doesn't help that a lot of the government spawned info is in the form of change4life, which has the likes of nestle as its main partner. That stuff got thrown in the bin by me for recommended low fat spreads for toddlers.
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I'm still amazed that you guys have change rooms, showers and gyms in your schools. We never even changed clothes before PE lessons, we exercised in the clothes we came to school in.0
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Should a greater emphasis be put on basic physiology and nutrition to be taught in schools. With some of the things you see people ask around here, it seems that a lot could be accomplished with teaching people the basics about carbs, protein & fat and how the body processes the food that you eat. Maybe it would head off much of the bro science and other info-mercial nonsense that is believed.
I don't think it would help. Bro science, diet of the day tells people what they want to hear. People can find correct information if they look. Maybe critical thinking skills and checking sources need to be emphasized more.
I had health class, home economics, physical education classes in school. We were taught the food pyramid of the day. No one mentioned calories or really talked about practically applying the stuff in class to our lives. It was do it/endure it, pass a test, forget it. I chose to homeschool my dd so I can't say what other kids are currently learning in our area.3 -
Christine_72 wrote: »I'm still amazed that you guys have change rooms, showers and gyms in your schools. We never even changed clothes before PE lessons, we exercised in the clothes we came to school in.
Yucky. I was one who loved PE. My favorite subject, really. But I got sweaty in class. And grass stained when it was outside. Not changing would have been sort of gross for the next hour or two.
Plus who could workout in acid wash skinny jeans, loafers, slouchy socks, and shoulder pads?BreezeDoveal wrote: »Who gets to set the curriculum? Are you going to teach a paleo diet? Primal? Vegetarian? Vegan? Carnivorous? Ketogenic? LCHF? IIFYM? Moderation? None of those will be right for everyone or even stay right for the individual throughout their life.
I agree with whoever brought up the age it is taught as an issue too. Kids have very little control over their diets beyond what mom and dad offer or what is in the cafeteria or school vending machines.
It would be like teaching a musical instrument but never letting them handle the instrument.
Why can't we have all of them? Some schools have compartive religion classes, so why not comparative nutrition classes? People could learn the different approaches and how to integreate the parts that work from each one for the individual learner into their life.
That would be great. Time is the issue there though.1 -
I've contended for a long while now that senior year of High School should be Life 101. Subjects matter includes:
- How to balance a checkbook.
- Why credit cards are a trap
- Situational awareness & self-defense
- Comparison shopping 101
- Resume writing
- Deciding what you really want in your career (should start freshman year and yearly updates)
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Should a greater emphasis be put on basic physiology and nutrition to be taught in schools. With some of the things you see people ask around here, it seems that a lot could be accomplished with teaching people the basics about carbs, protein & fat and how the body processes the food that you eat. Maybe it would head off much of the bro science and other info-mercial nonsense that is believed.
Critical thinking in general needs to be emphasized in schools.1
This discussion has been closed.
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