“When did public schools start losing PE funding?” is generating renewed interest in the increase in children’s health issues.The No Child left behind policy of 2001 did not put any focus on health education. The program actually started to draw funds away from a program designed to improve the health of America’s children. The acronym for this program is AAHPERD.
The No Child Left Behind program ignored the mission statement of most schools that included health and wellness in the mission and vision of the school system. The focus was placed on standardized test scores in core subjects. The focus on improving or maintaining the health of children was eliminated as a priority. As a result of this action, there materialized cuts in funding for physical and health education. Another result was a loss of physical educator positions.
The unintentional affect of ignoring the importance of health education of American children has to be eliminated. The reason for this is there is proof that physical activity increases the blood flow to the brain. This helps to reduce stress in children and produces calm behavior overall. Physically active students are possibly more inclined to improve their academic performance.
Negative behavior on the part of children such as missing school, getting pregnant, participating in risky activity, or attempting suicide tends to decrease. A report by Satcher, 2005 supports the belief that increased physical participation reduces disruptive behavior. It also improves concentration on academic material and generates higher test scores in math, reading, and writing.
There was a study that addressed this issue by Sallis et al (1999). The study was called Project SPARK and focused on providing physical activity during class. These activities included jump rope and aerobic dance. Also included were outdoor activities such as soccer and Frisbee games. This program even included training for teachers on implementing the curriculum.
Physical activity outside of school with families was targeted and children were rewarded for this activity. This study demonstrated significant differences in performances of experimental and control groups in the academic components. Studies have also shown that physical activity improves the rate of academic learning per unit of class time.
Despite the proven results in these studies, a study done in 2000, showed that only 5.8% of high schools, 6.4% of middle schools, and 8% of elementary schools, include daily physical education for all of their students. In 20% of America’s elementary schools recess has been discontinued and replaced by increased academic activity. There are other statistics available showing a severe lack of physical activity in the daily lives of all of America’s children.
This trend has created a severe presence of overweight children in the United States, we can’t just give them all HCG1234 like Dr. Simeons would suggest. This is resulting in poor outcomes in health and school performances. The statistics show that the health needs of children are being severely neglected. Many community leaders are inclined to believe that health education is not the schools responsibility, but the responsibility of parents. The increase in children being overweight and developing health issues such as diabetes is generating a new interest in physical activity in public schools.