The Importance Of Physical Activity In Education

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) note that when children participate in the recommended level of physical activity of at least 60 minutes per day multiple health benefits ensue. Nevertheless, since the creation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) increasing focus has been dedicated to bridging the achievement gap among students and less emphasis has been placed on non-academic curriculum such as physical education. Research has shown that approximately 3.8% of elementary schools provide formal physical education with this percentage steadily declining as children continue onto middle and high school. This decrease in physical activity is in line with reports from the CDC which estimate that one third of children in the United States are overweight and, within those cases, the CDC has documented that children who are overweight have higher absentee rates, have poorer health and experience early signs of mental illness all of which have an impact on academic performance.

The current physical education system at N13th St. is not the greatest—the students know it, the physical teachers themselves know it! When asked about the standard for daily physical activity, Wescott replied, “Everybody should exercise every day for at least 60 minutes a day.” He went on to say that after surveying his students, he came to find that the situation was even worse than it appeared to be.

It is recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that children receive at a minimum of 60-minutes of cumulative physical activity per day. Many children do not get the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Regular physical activity during adolescence has many beneficial factors including, healthy bones, weight control, and prevention of many chronic diseases (CDC, 2013). Physical activity can be playing a simple game of tag, or advanced as an organized sport, as long as it gets the child up, off the couch, and active. Despite this recommendation, many children fail to receive adequate physical activity. In 2006, only 27.1% of students in the United States had fulfilled the recommended amount of physical activity (CDC, 2013). In 2012, 56.3% of eighth grade students in Multnomah County “watched TV, or played video games, or used the Internet for 3 or more hours daily”(OHA, 2012). With an eight hour school day, three hours of video games, and at least an hour of homework adds up to 12 hours of the day, that with family time, meals, and “leisure” time, doesn’t allocate much time for physical activity. The lack of physical activity, combined with extremely long periods of sedentary behavior, coupled with junk food and sugary

Dale, D., Corbin, C.B., & Dale, K.S. (2000). Restricting opportunities to be active during school time: Do children compensate by increasing physical activity levels after school? Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 71,

In A Comparison of Children’s Physical Activity Levels in Physical Education, Recess, and Exergaming, the authors compare activity levels of children while participating in physical education class, recess, and exergaming programs. One hundred forty, first and second graders activity levels were assessed using accelerometers. Each week the children participated in three, thirty-minute physical education classes and two exergaming sessions lasting thirty minutes. The children also participated in daily, twenty-minute recess sessions after lunch. Results indicate that children “had the highest sedentary time in PE, followed by recess, and then exergaming.” (Gao, 2015). The results of the study indicate, “PE was the least effective school-based

Systematic reviews have suggested that those under the age of 18 years of age should have at least 60 minutes/day of physical activity in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle (Janssen & LeBlanc, 2010). As emphasized before, exercise should and may be incorporated whenever possible. Curriculums with physical education included may optimize what is already present, such as breaks between classes and programs that can be offered before or after school. Naperville, Illinois created an exercise model in which P.E. classes were scheduled before academic classes to give the children a boost and to create an enhanced state of attention (Ratey, 2009). These P.E. classes focused on the individual student’s fitness abilities and encouraged students to increase their heart rate by 80 to 90 percent, monitored by a heart monitor, at their own ideal pace. Exercising before the hardest classes allowed the students to relax and to clear their mind, so as to be able to focus on the next subject fully. Naperville’s model proved to be successful, and showed that a class of 230,000 eighth-grade students finished first in science in the world, and sixth in mathematics on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 1999 (Ratey, 2009). Not only that, 3 percent of an entire sophomore

In recent years, core curriculum changes have forced physical education and recess minutes to be decreased to accommodate mandated changes (Costley, & Leggett, 2010). Children need to be encouraged to actively play and decrease sitting time. Decreasing sitting time and actively free playing can be more effective than increasing physical exercise or reducing food intake (Moglia, & Dill, 2014). The state of Arkansas recognized obesity as a growing problem and mandated school districts to lengthen the time students spend in physical education classes from 60 minutes of physical education per week to 150 minutes per week (Costley, & Leggett, 2010).

“Almost seven in 10 parents say their child’s school does not provide daily physical education even though experts recommend 150 to 225 minutes per school week” (HSPH). Obesity is a major public health crisis among children and adults, and it is one of the leading causes of death. Over the years, childhood obesity has become an increasing and ongoing concern for many parents, in regards to their child’s health and well being. The lack of Physical Education in public schools has decreased over the years, and it is no longer mandatory for a student to take P.E or even some schools have banned P.E classes. U.S public schools have failed to comply with the recommended guidelines in the CDC for public school physical education, which states one should do “30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity on all, or most, days of the week” (CDC). It is sad to see that most public schools can not even take 30 minutes to work out their students and as obesity concerns rise, physical education classes are being cut. It just does not make any sense.

Schools are considered child’s second home and in the past, the schools used to provide good amount of time for physical activities. Nowadays, schools are cutting hours from PE classes and recesses time and diverting this time for study related in-class sedentary activities which in turn result in children not getting the needed physical activities (daily, more than or at least 60 minutes of moderate level physical activity) recommended for their age group.

In chapter 16, Beyond Physical Education: School-Based Physical Activity Programming, Joe Barrett thoroughly elucidated the importance and declines in spontaneous and self directed child and youth physical activity. In today’s society, children and youth are living shorter lives than their parents due to the lack of physical activity. The observation of this matter triggered many organizations to produce physical activity guidelines for children. The CSEP and PHAC issued guidelines stating that children (5-11 years) and youth (12-17 years) regardless of their status should participate in as a minimum sixty minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily. Additionally,

There are only six states in the United States that require physical education in every grade, K-12 (National Association for Sport and Physical Education & American Heart Association, 2012). Those states include Illinois, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, and Vermont. The other 44 states either allow some form of waiver, exemption, or substitution from physical education classes or do not require physical education in every grade. By allowing waivers, exemptions, and substitutions, students are not meeting the national requirements for physical activity because their activity time is cut. The national recommendation for physical activity of school-aged children is 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per day (“Opposing Substitution and Waiver/Exemptions,” 2006, para. 3). It is estimated that 40% of children ages 18-24 do not get the recommended daily amount of exercise (Mears, 2010, para. 7). The lack of physical activity has led to growing obesity rates in the United States and there is an even bigger need for students to learn the knowledge and skills associated with living a healthy

Further, children who walked for 20 minutes performed better on reading comprehension than those who sat for a similar length of time. Following physical activity, children also completed learning tasks faster and more accurately, and were more likely to read above their grade level. Long-term studies have demonstrated that increases in physical activity, resulting from greater time spent in physical education, were related to improved academic performance. Even single sessions of physical activity have been associated with better scores on academic tests, improved concentration, and more efficient transfers of information from short- to long-term memory. Children participating in physical activity are better able to stay focused and remain on task in the classroom, thus enhancing the learning experience

- Through multiple tests, physical activity and physical fitness has been proved to improve academic performance. One example of a test used to prove this theory was when a seminal research was conducted by Gabbard and Barton (1979). This experiment consisted of six different conditions of physical activity (no activity, 20, 30, 40, and 50 minutes) and was completed by 106 2nd graders during physical education. Each of the physical education sessions were followed by a 5 minute rest and then a completion of 36 math problems. The authors found a potential threshold effect when noticing that only the 50-minute condition improved in mathematical performance. Other experiments like this one have also been conducted to prove academic improvement from physical activity.

“The greater the amount of physical activity engaged by the youth, the greater the health benefit (Rachele). In a different era, children used to roam the streets on their bikes going to a friend’s house; they would play tag, football, and other games just to pass the time. However, with the latest developments in modern technology, regular physical activity has declined for the average child. More children are opting to stay inside watching television or playing on a tablet instead of enjoying their time outside. There are many aspects that go into a child’s active lifestyle, and how active they are when they are younger shapes the rest of their life.

Measurement- 117- giving numbers to an object that indicate a value. For example, time given to physical activity in the classroom can be measured in minutes.