P.E. Mandates Across the Country Do Little To Combat Obesity, UGA Study Finds

Because there are no clear requirements about physical education in public schools, education officials are giving kids short shrift. This, despite a national epidemic of childhood obesity.

A study headed by UGA kinesiology professor Bryan McCullick, and summarized in a press release, shows that children receive a fraction of the recommended time for physical activity. And as they move from elementary school into high school, the amount of time drops to zero in some states.

The National Association of Sport and Physical Education creates guidelines for the how much time students should spend in physical education. For elementary students, it's 150 minutes a week; for middle and high schoolers, it's 225 minutes. Only six states require the recommended amount for elementary students, two for middle schoolers and none for high school students.

“Findings indicated that statutes were written in a manner that did not explicitly mandate school-based physical education but rather recommended or suggested it,” said McCullick, who teaches in the.

“The first step to ensuring children have a healthy level of school-based physical education is to ensure that states have mandates regarding quality physical education with clear requirements,” McCullick said. “Then, we need to implement a surveillance system to ensure schools adhere to the mandate. Until those are in place we can’t fairly determine the benefits of school-based PE.”

The study was published in the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education.

You may also be interested in:

'Pink Slime' in School Lunches Sparks Concern

Would Your Child's Lunch Pass Inspection?