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Closing the physical education loophole
By Janice Youngwith
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Students across the state have cause for excitement as new legislation this year closes the loophole enabling school districts to waive statewide physical education requirements indefinitely.
The legislation, House Bill 1839 sponsored by Rep. Kevin Joyce and Sen. Willie Delgado, reduces the number of years for a school physical education waiver from five to two years and limits the number of physical education waiver renewals a school district may be granted. Previous legislation included no limits on waiver renewal.
That's good news for the millions of K-12 students facing childhood and adult obesity, diabetes and heart disease as major health challenges due to more sedentary lifestyles and increased caloric consumption.
"Young people in Illinois simply aren't getting enough physical exercise," says Beth Mahar, a retired high school physical education teacher and a member of the American Heart Association's state advocacy committee. "Parents, schools and the community all have a stake in creating policies and opportunities for children and adolescents to participate in more physical activity. But waivers granted from physical education mean those opportunities are eliminated for many of our youth to be more active and sadly, some children in schools that have received more than a decade of waivers, have never received formal physical education training."
Doing more with less
In today's environment, schools are constantly asked to do more with less, admits Mahar, who also serves as volunteer legislative director of the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance.
"Various unfunded mandates mean consumer education, substance abuse, character education and a plethora of health topics now must be included in school curriculum," Mahar says. "Schools are always looking to do things more efficiently and often seek a PE waiver to allow more time to fulfill other requirements."
It's no surprise, she reports, that many of today's incoming high school freshman post significantly lower upper body and endurance scores on standardized fitness tests.
"Illinois may be the only state in the union with a PE requirement, but sadly more than one-third of our schools and districts receive special renewable waivers resulting in children becoming more sedentary every day," notes Mark Peysakhovich, senior advocacy director, American Heart Association. "Placed into law in the 1940s, the original legislative intent was to ensure a school physical education requirement and a strong defense for generations to come. Since 1995, waivers have made the law more permissive and open ended, with our children bearing the health consequences." "Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for developing coronary artery disease," he notes. "It also increases the risk of stroke. The American Heart Association recommends that children and adolescents participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day."
He also adds that increased physical activity has been associated with an increased life expectancy and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.
"Daily physical education is good for a student's health, mental stimulation, improved self-image and even high test scores," Peysakhovich says. "Many experts predict that the current generation may indeed have a shorter lifespan than their parents because of the impact of obesity and more sedentary lifestyles."
Linking physical activity & academic success
Peysakhovich's observations are on target, according to results of recent studies by the University of Illinois' Darla Castelli, who together with colleagues, evaluated the impact of physical fitness and academic achievement in third through fifth grade students in the Champaign and Urbana communities.
Her findings linking physical fitness and academic achievement are making waves across the country as educators and legislators alike take note of the far-reaching implications.
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| Darla Castelli |
"Specifically, we've found aerobic capacity to be positively associated with achievement, whereas body mass index was inversely related," Castelli reports. "Associations were demonstrated in total academic achievement, mathematics and reading achievement, suggesting that aspects of physical
fitness may be globally related to academic performance in preadolescents."
Castelli says implications of the study have been more far reaching that she could have imagined with both the U.S. Congress and Senate using the data to guide policymaking decisions regarding No Child Left Behind legislation. Both the House and Senate currently are preparing versions of the FIT Kids Act to mandate physical action and physical activity within the school day for all U.S. students.
"Our other immediate recommendations include, but aren't limited to, making physical education and physical activity a national priority, especially for children; legislation to support quality daily physical education as part of a comprehensive physical activity program; schools taking a comprehensive approach to promoting physical activity during and beyond the school day and continued funding for research and development.
Keeping kids active
Teacher recommendations, Castelli says, include things such as promoting active recess, support of before and after school programs promoting initiatives such as walking, the formation of a school physical activity committee, physical activity breaks during academic time and family/community involvement.
That dire warning is echoed by cardiac experts across the country and recent Centers for Disease Control statistics pointing to 16 percent of our nation's children being overweight. American Heart Association experts say rates for obesity and overweight, leading risk factors for heart disease, have risen dramatically over the last 10 years — nearly doubling and labeling one-third of children in the U.S. overweight.
For more information on childhood obesity, the role of exercise and nutrition, and efforts to spark change as they encourage healthier lifestyles for young people, visit the Alliance For A Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association, online at: www.healthiergeneration.org.
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