Schools are skipping P.E.

Lack of activity said to play obesity role

By Vicki Kemper, Los Angeles Times, 9/30/2003

WASHINGTON -- Missing from the schedule of many students this year is one class that used to be a staple: physical education. From North Carolina to California, physical education classes have been squeezed out of the school day, a trend that parallels a national increase in childhood obesity.

In 1991, 4 in 10 high school students took gym classes daily; 10 years later, the proportion was barely one-third. In 1980, just 5 percent of school-age children were severely overweight; 20 years later, the number jumped to 15 percent.

Few would argue that the one trend is completely responsible for the other, but a lack of physical activity, in school or out, is a significant contributor to obesity.

But faced with shrinking budgets and growing demands for improved academic performance on standardized tests, mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, many school systems see physical education as a course they can no longer afford.

"It's a terrible, terrible decision," said Anne Bryant, executive director of the National School Boards Association. "Do you cut math and reading, or do you cut P.E.? . . . There's a lot more to this thing we call learning than simply test scores."

Other factors contribute to the obesity epidemic, including school lunches loaded with fat and the consumption of junk food on and off campus.

But officials increasingly point to the loss of physical education classes as a culprit.

Among the agencies that have begun to focus on the problem is the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Howell Wechsler, a health scientist in the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health, said society should take advantage of the time children are in school to teach them "the skills and attitudes needed to embrace a physically active lifestyle."

The need for in-school exercise was underscored in the results of a recent national survey by the CDC that suggested that more than 3 out of 5, or 61.5 percent, of 9- to 13-year-olds participate in no organized physical activities outside school. More than 1 in 5, or 22.6 percent, engage in no physical activity in their free time.

"Schools are not going to be able on their own to reverse this obesity epidemic," Wechsler acknowledged. "But they're an important part of the puzzle."

The CDC, the American Heart Association, and the National Association for Sports and Physical Education are among the many organizations that recommend daily physical education from kindergarten through 12th grade. Physical activity offers clear short- and long-term health benefits. Most health specialists also say that children who exercise regularly perform better academically.

Illinois is the only state to require daily physical education from kindergarten through 12th grade. Even there, gym classes are not a sure thing. A recent survey estimated that fewer than 10 percent of the state's elementary schools comply with the law.

Some states require daily physical education in elementary school, but the requirements in virtually all states decline as children age. Until recently, students in most states had to take a year or two of physical education in high school to graduate.

In Massachusetts, the state Board of Education abolished a requirement that students get 90 minutes of physical education each week. Instead, the state requires students in all grades to take physical education classes, but does not specify the amount of time. It also lets districts define what constitutes physical education. Team sports, such as football or volleyball, count toward the requirement, according to the state Department of Education.

About 17.7 percent of Massachusetts students in grades 9-12 took physical education classes daily, compared with 32.2 percent nationally, according to 2001 data gathered by Action For Healthy Kids, a national group seeking to boost students' nutrition and physical activity in school.

Minnesota recently eliminated physical education as a graduation requirement, and a new Florida law allows high school students to graduate in three years by skipping physical education and some electives.

Roughly one-third of all high schools give students another out: If they participate in band, cheerleading, school sports teams, or similar activities, they are exempt from physical education requirements.

In California, elementary schools must offer an average of 20 minutes of physical education per day. Middle and high schools must provide an average of 40 minutes per day, and high school students must take physical education for two years to graduate. But even California's relatively tough requirements have produced disappointing results. Only 24 percent of the state's fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders met minimal physical fitness standards last year.

Dianne Wilson-Graham, who directs physical education in California, pointed out that the state does not enforce its requirements.

Anand Vaishnav of the Globe staff contributed to this report.