Child Obesity & Physical Education | A Natural Remedy

Child Obesity & Physical Education | A Natural Remedy

WASHINGTON, DC, June 2, 2010 -The Shape of the Nation Report: Status of Physical Education in the USA published last week by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and the American Heart Association (AHA), showed that whilst most states mandate physical education, there are two significant inadequacies: (i) time requirements; and (ii) exemptions/waivers; basically, loopholes! Having regard to recent increasing attention paid to childhood obesity prevention initiatives, law-makers and school policy-makers are able to and must 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 starting at base level by using natural remedies and avoiding the issues in the first place must surely be common sense.  One would think so but by managing to side-step physical education in the school curriculum, our schools, or at least “the powers that be” who run the schools, are clearly demonstrating through their actions, or perhaps we should say lack of action, that they do not necessarily agree!  How much more basic can one be than by good old fashioned physical exercise and you will find few, if any, prepared to openly disagree with this 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 a vital component of the school day has been demoted to the sidelines 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, an increasing number of states have taken advantage of the legal loopholes enabling the exclusion of  physical education classes , and resulting in the absence of progress towards an obligatory requirement to include physical education in the school curriculum. In light of increasing childhood obesity rates along with hypertension and high cholesterol, all being factors implicated in heart disease and stroke, now is not the time to rollback 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 most states require that physical education be taken by students. However, as alluded to earlier in this article, a major loophole exists in over half of all states. Other key findings include:
–  Only five states (Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Mexico and
Vermont) require physical education in every grade level.
–  Forty-eight states have their own state standards for physical
education, but only 34 states require local districts to comply or
align with these standards.
–  Only 19 states have a requirement for physical education student assessment.
–  Forty-three percent of states allow required physical education
credits to be earned through online physical education courses.
–  Fewer states (14 as against 22 in 2006) include physical education grades in the calculation of students’ grade point averages..
–  Thirteen states require schools to measure Body Mass Index and/or
height and weight for each student.

It has been recommended by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and The American Heart Association that 225 minutes per week of instructional physical education be provided by schools for middle and high school students and 150 minutes per week for elementary school children. throughout the 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, The First Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign also provides a solid foundation for improving quality physical education as children become more active during the day. Research shows that healthy children learn more effectively and achieve more academically. 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 says it in one!.  Check back at this site soon when we will be presenting an article on the “Let’s Move” project. Given the  patronage of the President and his First Lady, there is cause for optimism.

If  readers wish to correct or add to any of the foregoing facts, please contact us.

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