Established health, sports skill, and movement standards are recommended for students in grades K-12 (The National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 1995.) Pangrazi and Darst (2001) stress the importance of implementing a physical education curriculum that fosters favorable health habits in students throughout the twelfth grade. The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of physical education participation on Body Mass Index (BMI) in adolescents. Data were collected on youth sports program participants each of the past three summers. Initially forty-three individuals that participated in school physical education programs the previous year qualified for study enrollment. Forty-one (23 boys and 18 girls, mean age of 14.9 + .86 years) sports program participants returned two successive summers. Group 1 (n=14) participated in physical education (PE) for two consecutive academic years; Group 2 (n=18) consisted of non-physical education (non-PE) class participants for two consecutive academic years; Group 3 (n=4) consisted of first year physical education class non-participants who then participated in physical education during the second academic year (non-PE/PE); and Group 4 (n=5) consisted of first year physical education class participants who were non-participants during the second academic year (PE/non-PE). Heights and weights were collected for the purpose of calculating BMI. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) (4 Groups x 3 Time design) was utilized to determine the influence of physical education class participation and time on BMI. The repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that the non-PE group over time experienced a significantly greater gain in BMI, F(3, 37) = 8.547, p<.001 than did the PE, non-PE/PE, and PE/non-PE groups. However, over time the BMI of the non-PE/PE group moved from 20.5+2.6 to 21.5+ 1.7 to 19.0+.8, while the BMI of the PE/non-PE group moved from 20.8+4.1 to 20.6+3.0 to 22.4+2.3. In addition, the health profiles of the non-PE group indicated that 15 of the 18 participants experienced serious hypokinetic health conditions including Type I and Type II diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and back problems, while only one of the 14 members of the PE group experienced similar health conditions. Results of the study reflect the importance of yearly participation in physical education throughout the adolescent school years. It is imperative to proactively influence youth toward a lifetime of physical activity to reduce the occurrence of devastating health conditions and ensure healthier lifestyles for generations to come. Keyword(s): high school issues, physical activity, wellness/disease prevention