Opportunities for Improving Physical Education's Impact on Public Health

Public health interest in PE is very high, fueled by childhood obesity concerns. PE has unprecedented opportunities to optimize its health impact. But achieving that impact will not be automatic. This presentation identifies 3 barriers to progress and recommends solutions. First, PE and public health professionals do not share goals. In our 1991 paper we argued that PE must provide sufficient MVPA for youth to meet their health needs. Yet, the PE profession generally has not embraced this goal. PE leaders emphasize that PE is more than PA and should prepare children for a lifetime of activity. My plea is to ensure that youth spend at least 50% of class time in MVPA, and use activity to achieve PE's multiple goals. Second, we do not know what is happening in PE classes. A national study of PE would allow us to examine PE K-12 and learn about best practices and where improvements are most needed. Third, there are disparities in PE quality. The same children in low-resource schools who have low academic achievement and high obesity rates also have poor PE programs. Improved PE could improve physical, emotional, and academic health of the most disadvantaged students. The past 20 years have seen mixed progress in ensuring PE makes an optimal contribution to public health. Major challenges remain, but the opportunities and societal support for bringing activity-focused PE to all children have never been greater.