Written by David Geier MD, AOSSM Public Relations Chair

For a number of reasons, physical education programs in U.S. schools seem to be in a state of decline. In the current economic climate, government funding for education programs has decreased, so physical education programs have often been cut. Also, with schools needing to demonstrate success academically, teachers and administrators frequently worry about any activity that pulls students out of the classroom.

But do physical education classes really hinder a student's academic performance? It has been suggested that physically fit children are not only healthier, but they perform better on standardized academic tests.

A novel approach

Mitchell Elementary School, an underprivileged school in Charleston, South Carolina wanted to be proactive and find a way to maintain academic performance without sacrificing physical activity.Their school nurse, Glennis Randazzo, applied for grants that would fund education and equipment through the PE4Life program. The school partnered with physicians at the Medical University of South Carolina to study the success of the program. Dr. Carly Scahill, a pediatrics resident at MUSC and one of the study's lead authors, was also involved in the program. Prior to implementation of the new program, students underwent 40 minutes of physical education class per week. It increased to 40 minutes, five days per week under the new program, with the goal of combining physical activity and intellectual stimulation.

Stressing both physical and mental exercise

The younger children performed developmentally appropriate activities during the program, like riding scooters while being asked to trace shapes with their movement. Older children performed more active and intellectually challenging activities like practicing multiplication while climbing a rock wall. For example, if a student's left foot was on a "two" and left hand was on a "four," then he would reach his hand to number eight.

Academic results

Schools administer the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test each fall. Prior to the new physical exercise program, only 55% of students achieved their spring test goals. After a year in the program, 68.5% of students met their goals.

Next steps

Increased time for physical activity doesn't have to mean less time to learn; it's just learning in a new format. So what is next? Do we wait and hope that more schools try it? Dr. Scahill wants to expand the scope of the study, matching two schools based on demographics and academic performance and seeing if a school that utilizes the program would outscore the ones that did not. More longitudinal data would also be helpful to determine if these programs apply to students at all levels.

What are your thoughts on the program? Can PE help improve test scores?

Program: A planned series of future events, items, or performances.
Policy: A proposed or adopted course or principle of action.

One way to get Americans engaged in physical activity is through the use of programming.  This might mean regular “classes”, special events, etc.  Programs are conducted by government bodies such as recreation and park departments or public schools, by not for profit organizations like the Y, the JCC and also by local community groups.

Programs provide ready made activities that have structure, resources, personnel, etc. but what happens when the class is over or the event ends?  Do those same people still engage in the amount of daily physical activity as recommended in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans?  If not, why not?  Likely, it is not nearly as convenient and in the case of a special event, perhaps it is just not logistically possible.

Let’s look at an example… National Walk to School Day.  Perhaps your community has created activities surrounding this day…maybe they have gathered volunteers to work as crossing guards so that it is safe for children to cross streets or perhaps they have allowed streets to only be one way to enable safe walking and biking.  Many parents participate with their children or talk to their kids who walked/biked about how they enjoyed it…discussion spreads through the “parent network”… “Wouldn’t it be great if the kids could safely walk/bike to school on a regular basis-not just once a year?”  They begin to look at what would be needed to make that happen…perhaps its traffic signals-maybe its crossing guards-perhaps its considering walking/biking when making decisions of where to put schools and when developing neighborhoods. 

Here’s another one…the local swimming pools are very popular with families and kids.  Their activity however, leaves no space for those that want to swim laps.  The manager at one pool notices this and institutes time each hour that allows for lap swimming.  Word spreads through the community and interested parties start asking other managers to do the same on a trial basis…soon a group of dedicated lap swimmers organizes and approaches policy makers asking for a community wide policy to be developed designating lap swimming time.

This is how policy often starts-particularly on the local level.  A group of individuals rally around a problem of common interest and work to educate and influence policy makers about solutions.

The above examples demonstrate how programming can lead to policy.  The National Physical Activity Plan is full of ideas on policies that would make it easier for Americans to engage in physical activity where they work, live, worship, shop and- go to school.  Local groups interested in instituting some of these polices in their own communities might want to consider hosting events or regular activities that can help educate and shape residents to work towards policies that would make it easier to engage in physical activity on a daily basis.  

What ideas do you have for programs that could lead to policies?