July 18th, 2010 
admin Child obesity & Physical Education | The Natural Remedy
WASHINGTON, DC, June 2, 2010 -The Shape of the Nation Report: Status of Physical Education in the USA released last week by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and the American Heart Association (AHA), showed that whilst most states support physical education, there are two significant inadequacies: (i) time requirements; and (ii) exemptions/waivers; basically, loopholes! Having regard to recent increasing attention paid to prevention initiatives for childhood obesity, legislators and school policy-makers can and should be part of the solution through pro-actively eliminating these shortcomings in the regime of physical education.
There are many weapons in the armory of dealing with heart disease and cardiac concerns but trying the time-tested basic approaches of old to avoid the issues arising in the first place would surely be a no-brainer. It seems utterly straight forward to a reasonable thinking person but it seems that by avoidance of including physical education the school year, our schools, or at least the directors and trustees etc. at the top, who run the schools, are clearly demonstrating through their actions, or perhaps we should say lack of action, that they do not necessarily agree! Physical exercise is one of the most basic, proven routes to achieving good health and few would be prepared to stand up and disagree with such a common sense approach. Time will ultimately be the judge but it could well be shown that the medium to long term effects caused by lack of physical education will prove costly in terms of money as well as the human cost.
It is perhaps worrying that an essential part of the school day has been relegated to the bottom of the pile as more states fail to incorporate quality physical education into elementary and middle schools. The 2010 Report shows a disturbing lack of progress in helping children build healthy bodies and healthy minds. Despite improvements by increments in making physical education a requirement, shamefully in the writer’s opinion, increasing numbers of states have been taking advantage of legal loopholes to avoid including physical education the school year, and no progress has been made in requiring daily physical education, across all grades. In light of increasing childhood obesity rates alongside rising cases of high blood pressure and cholesterol issues, all being factors implicated in heart disease and stroke, this is not time to be shying away from efforts to prioritize physical education in our children’s schools.
Our research has come up with some interesting facts and although subject to further confirmation, the good news is that the majority of states mandate that students must take physical education. However, as alluded to earlier in this article, a major loophole exists in over half of all states. Other significant factors we have discovered include:
– Only five states (Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Mexico and
Vermont) have a requirement for physical education in every grade.
– Forty-eight states have their own state standards for physical
education, but only 34 states have a compliance requirement to operate to these standards.
– Only 19 states require some form of student assessment in physical
education.
– Forty-three percent of states allow permit earning of credits in physical education through online courses.
– Fewer states (14 as against 22 in 2006) require physical education grades to
be included in students’ grade point averages. .
– Thirteen states employ students’ Body Mass Index and/or height and weight figures for guidance as to exercise requirements.
The American Heart Association and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education recommend that schools provide 150 minutes per week of instructional physical education for elementary school children and 225 minutes per week for middle and high school students for the entire school year.
The American Heart Association strongly supports state and federal legislation to make physical education an integral part of the curriculum and measures to strengthen school wellness policies. Introduced in February 2010, Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign also provides a solid foundation for improving quality physical education as children become more active during the day. Healthy children learn more effectively and achieve more academically according to various research projects. Too many children already face an uphill battle to becoming more physically active with few opportunities before and after school to get the heart pumping. We must do more to reverse this trend by urging states and local school districts to step up their requirements to improve children’s health and their outlook for a long, heart-healthy life.
The “Let’s Move” ambitious headline is “America’s Move to Raise a Healthier generation of Kids” and that really sums up the issue in one sentence. Check back on this place soon, when we present an article on "Let's Move" project. Given the patronage of the President and his wife, there is reason for optimism.
If the reader wishes to correct or add to any of the above facts, please contact us.
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