The spotlight is on physical education and physical activity in our schools, and for good reason. National Physical Education Sports Week (May 1-7) is a good opportunity to recognize the enormous value of physical education and physical activity in our schools, and to commit to moving Colorado from a dismal ranking to best in the nation.
Research has long established what most parents and teachers know based on common sense: Meaningful and consistent physical activity and a quality PE curriculum are important elements of a child’s education and healthy habits. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported, students who are physically active and participate in PE classes tend to have better grades, school attendance, cognitive performance and classroom behaviors.
The largest contributors to a healthy population are nutrition, physical activity and the environment that either supports or impedes a healthy lifestyle. Our state’s political and business leaders recognize that health and wellness are part of the Colorado brand. Gov. John Hickenlooper’s charge that we become the “healthiest state in the nation” does not seem far from our grasp. With a growing health and wellness sector, and a natural and recreational environment second to none in the nation, Colorado should aim high when it comes to fitness and physical activity.
So it comes as a surprise and severe disappointment that Colorado is ranked so low with regard to PE statewide policy in our schools. As Health Elevations editor Michael Booth has reported, “Colorado is only one of four states without a PE requirement at any grade level.” And while Colorado’s adults rank No. 1 in the nation in the amount of physical activity they engage in, our kids rank only 24th in that same category, according to the Colorado Health Foundation’s annual report card.
This worrisome distinction between our adults and kids is often referred to as the Colorado paradox: We import healthy, well-educated adults to our state but don’t do nearly as well with our kids.
Here’s the good news: Colorado is well-situated to transform our children’s health and, in so doing, to put our state on a stronger path for continued, long-term success. Research, opportunity and public enthusiasm all point to our schools as a critical place to catalyze this statewide movement. Positive local approaches to PE and physical education in school districts such as Hayden and St. Vrain Valley and Slavens School in Denver offer valuable lessons for statewide policy.
Coloradans want to make PE and physical activity an essential part of the school day.
Few issues have as much widespread support as physical education. Polling by American Viewpoint revealed that an overwhelming 86 percent of active voters in Colorado support a daily PE requirement in our schools even if it means “time taken away from other subjects.” This polling encompassed majorities by every category of voter regardless of age, geography or political affiliation.
The timing is ideal to move forward with clear expectations for physical education and physical activity in our schools. “We ask schools and communities,” the CDC wrote in a recent report, “to lay aside perennial battles for resources and instead align those resources in support of the whole child … one who is knowledgeable, healthy, motivated and engaged.”
Colorado has an exciting opportunity to advance health, education and economic vitality in our state by making physical education and physical activity a priority — not an afterthought — in our schools.
Shepard Nevel is CEO of LiveWell Colorado, a statewide organization dedicated to reducing and preventing obesity through encouraging and enabling healthy eating and physical activity.
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