COLLEGE STATION - If your kids' test scores are up, chances are good their health is down - maybe way down.
Public school districts nationwide are putting more emphasis and resources than ever on improving grades and test scores, but at the same time have cut physical education classes, so much so that 75 percent of all high school students do not take any P.E. courses. The consequences could have devastating long-term results, says a Texas A&M University professor who is leading efforts to restore physical education courses in the curriculum.
Dr. Carl Gabbard, a professor of health and kinesiology and past president of the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NAPSE), says only 25 percent of public schools require physical education programs, down from 42 percent in 1991.
The result: a lot of overweight and out-of-shape kids.
"America has been losing the fitness battle for years, and now it's beginning to affect our kids, and it's doing so at an alarming rate," believes Gabbard.
"There is one basic question to ask: Is physical education a priority in our schools? Sadly, almost always the answer is 'No.' "
Gabbard says recent statistics show 55 percent of all Americans are overweight, and such a condition usually starts early. About 1 in every 4 schoolchildren in the United States is considered obese, a 20 percent increase in the last decade.
Additionally, the same statistics show 60 percent of all Americans do not exercise sufficiently.
"The combination of no exercise and poor diet causes at least 300,000 deaths a year, according to the Surgeon General," Gabbard adds. "Only the use of tobacco causes more deaths."
More scary figures: Obesity and related diseases cost more than $100 billion in health expenditures every year. The Center for Disease Control says that a sedentary lifestyle doubles your chances of heart disease and increases the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, certain cancers and osteoporosis.
"David Satcher, the Surgeon General, has said we have made a serious error by not requiring physical education," Gabbard adds.
Gabbard and other health and physical educators have taken the matter to Congress. NAPSE and a group of health coalitions have been able to get the Physical Education for Progress, or PEP act, introduced in the Senate. It would authorize grants of $400 million over the next five years to local school systems for equipment, support, curriculum development and training to get physical education back into the schools.
While the overall funding sounds impressive, it translates only to about $1,100 a year for the nation's 88,000 public schools.
Gabbard says it is necessary to restore physical education classes to the core curriculum at all grades in public schools. Many states - Texas among them - do not require a daily physical education class from elementary through high school.
"We need to get kids active again and we need to have qualified personnel instructing them," Gabbard believes.
"Research shows that kids who do become obese usually start at about age 12. Children need an absolute minimum of 30 minutes of exercise per day. And they need to be taught by certified professionals who have a degree or training in physical education who can stress such things as proper nutrition and diet.
"The Olympics are coming up soon," he adds. "It's a time when people all over the country get interested in physical activity. It's crucial that we get our school kids involved in exercise again. Studies show that the average child spends at least 24 hours per week watching television, and when you add the time they spend in front of a computer, it's even more. It's no wonder so many kids are overweight and out of shape.
"Our kids' health is at stake. Without a healthy lifestyle, all other learning cannot realize its full potential."
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Contact: Keith Randall at (979) 845-4644 or Carl Gabbard at (979) 845-1277.
8/23/00
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