For many children, their first experience with organized sports and exercise is in school physical education (PE) classes. The goals of PE are multifold, including: exposing kids to exercise and sports and encouraging life-long fitness and health. Also, exercise in schools can allow kids to develop self-discipline and self-esteem, as well as learning teamwork and coping skills that can help them throughout life.
With childhood obesity at an all time high, physical education and healthy eating education are among the few societal tools for dealing with this disease. The Centers for Disease Control’s 2017-2020 data show obesity affects almost 20% in children between the ages of two and nineteen. Of these, certain minority communities are disproportionately more affected, with up to 25-26% of all children being obese. Regular exercise has been shown to reduce teen obesity. Studies have shown that students who play on three or more sports teams are 39% less obese. For many kids, school is where participation in sports begins. In a latchkey society, where many children go straight home from school to snacks, Netflix, and video games, a solid foundation in exercise is only found in PE class.
Physical education can also have psychological, social, and emotional benefits. Self-image in teens is closely linked to body appearance, so improving physical health is closely linked to improving mental health. Exercise is also important to reducing stress and improved mental alertness, which leads to better classroom performance and therefore higher self-esteem. While sports and competition can be stressful, it can help prepare children for the goal oriented stresses of “real-life”. Learning how to work as a team on goal oriented tasks can help children build healthy relationships and develop empathy.
There are many benefits of physical education in schools, especially for children without other resources for sports. The state of California supports this by mandating 200 minutes of PE per ten days of class in grades 1-6, and 400 minutes in every ten day period for grades 7-12. A 2011 report, however, contends that over a third of California students do not participate in school physical education. This is partially due to exemptions of some students from PE, as well as cuts to school funding for PE. The CEO of the California Endowment, Dr. Robert Ross, MD, says “Our educators need to understand that physical education is just as essential to a student’s academic success as reading, writing and arithmetic.”
