Bryan Peters

Why PE Ma/ers for Student Academics and Wellness Right Now

Kelly Field (2021) explored the con6nued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on motor skill
development and overall health of students, as well as the lessening investment in PE as schools
work to regain ground in other content areas. The findings included a short-term spike in
childhood obesity rates, and an overall delay in both motor skills and socioemo6onal skills in
elementary aged students. The author suggested that although most school districts are
lessening the 6me investment in PE instruc6on and alloca6ng that 6me to core subjects, the
few districts that have maintained or increase PE instruc6onal 6me are seeing fast improvement
in the gaps created by the pandemic.

This literature is related to CSTP element 2.2, in that it encourages schools and districts to
reimplement consistent, demanding physical educa6on programs to not only begin to help
students develop age-appropriate motor skills once again, but also to tackle the increasing
socioemo6onal issues elementary students at encountering at all levels are. As a teacher leader,
this ar6cle reminds me that I should con6nue advoca6ng for increased investment in our
district’s elementary PE program, which would include addi6onal equipment and teachers that
would allow us to meet with each student more oSen during the week.

Field, K. (2021, November 8). Why PE Matters for Student Academics and Wellness Right Now.
KQED. https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/58720/why-pe-matters-for-student-academics-
and-wellness-right-now.

Notable Quotes

Quote Comments
The full impact of the pandemic on kids’ health and fitness I’ve no6ced a significant lag in
won’t be known for some 6me. But it’s already caused at motor skill development and
least a short-term spike in childhood obesity Rates of an overall aversion to physical
overweight and obesity in 5- through 11-year-olds rose ac6vity since the pandemic.
nearly 10 percentage points in the first few months of 2020. Kids are just overall
unhealthier.
Now, as schools scramble to help kids catch up academically, PE has always come second,
there are signs that PE is taking a back seat to the core now it is having even more
subjects yet again. In some California schools, administrators 6me taken away to give to
are shiSing instruc6onal minutes from PE to academic academic subjects. I have also
subjects — or canceling class altogether so PE teachers can been asked to sub instead of
sub for classroom teachers; in others, they’re growing class doing PE.
sizes in the gym, so they can shrink them in the classroom.
“The second graders are like first graders, and some are even Students act and move as if
like kindergarteners,” said Robin Richardson, an elementary they are 2-3 years younger
PE instructor in Kentucky. They can jump and hop, she said, than they actually are.
but they can’t leap. They’re exhausted aSer 20 seconds of
jumping jacks.
And some PE teachers say their students’ social-emo6onal Kids treat each other terribly
skills have suffered more than their gross motor skills. “They and any ac6vity that requires
forgot how to share; how to be nice to each other; how to collabora6on/teamwork is
relate to each other,” said Donn Tobin, an elementary PE extremely difficult.
instructor in New York.
Yet not all instructors are repor6ng drops in their students’ I work at low-income Title I
fitness and skill development. Teachers in some middle- and schools, so it makes sense
upper-income districts said they haven’t no6ced much of a that I am seeing the nega6ve
change at all. In some communi6es, families seemed to impact of the pandemic as
spend more 6me outdoors. opposed to upper class
schools that didn’t see a
“We saw the skyrocke6ng sale of bicycles, we saw families drop-off.
going for walks,” said Dianne Wilson-Graham, execu6ve
director of the California Physical Educa6on and Health
Project.

But in Title I schools like Macdonough, where more than half

the students are low-income, some kids didn’t even have
access to a safe place to exercise or play during school
closures.
But she works in a school with pods, so she sees each group Teachers need to fill in the
of kids for five consecu6ve days, every third week. The two gaps between days that we
weeks in between, she has to hope that teachers will provide are with the students, but
recess and “movement breaks.” She’s trying to get them to oSen6mes they don’t know
give kids breaks “when they get glassy-eyed and frustrated.” what to do or how to do it
efficiently so they don’t lose
Convincing classroom teachers to set aside more 6me for too much instruc6onal 6me
movement can be challenging, though. As students return in the classroom.
from months of online learning, teachers are under
enormous pressure to get them caught up academically.

In Connec6cut, Amtmanis hasn’t given up on convincing

teachers to carve out 6me for the Daily Mile. She recently
sent them a list of sugges6ons on how to fit 15 minutes of
running into the day, including by incorpora6ng it as an ac6ve
transi6on between academic blocks.
EducaAng the Student Body: Taking Physical AcAvity and Physical EducaAon to School
Chapter 3: Physical AcAvity and Physical EducaAon: RelaAonship to Growth, Development,
and Health

Kohl and Cook (2013) examined the connec6on between the amount of physical ac6vity a child
par6cipates in and their likelihood of suffering from various mental and physical condi6ons both
as an adolescent and as they grow to an adult. Data was drawn from various educa6on and
public health agencies at federal, state and local levels. The findings of the data showed that
lower levels of childhood obesity and improved body composi6on during adolescence was
related to a higher rate of par6cipa6on in exercise. Addi6onally, feelings of confidence, self-
efficacy, and overall posi6ve mental health were seen in adolescents who engaged in regular
physical ac6vity. The authors suggested that many of the health issues we see in adolescents,
and ul6mately adults, can be ajributed to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle.

This literature is related to CSTP element 1.3, in that it directly connects physical ac6vity to
improved physical and mental health in school-aged children. Since students spend the most
6me away from their home at their schools, physical educa6on classes will be the main source
of physical ac6vity in these years of their lives. As a teacher leader, this book reminds me that I
should keep in mind the long-term impact of my teaching and communica6on with students in
terms of their health. The rela6onship I help students build with physical ac6vity will have an
impact not only on their health at that 6me, but also the likelihood of sustained par6cipa6on in
to adulthood.

(Kohl, H. W., & Cook, H. D. (2013). Educa<ng the Student Body: Taking Physical Ac<vity and
Physical Educa<on to School. Na6onal Academies Press).

Notable Quotes

Quote Comments
Adults engaged in regular physical ac6vity have lower rates of The habits needed to avoid
chronic disease (e.g., coronary heart disease, cardiovascular chronic illness in adulthood
disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, and are oSen introduced and
some cancers) and are less likely to die prematurely (HHS, fostered in adolescence.
1996, 2008; Bauman, 2004). And while the ill effects of
chronic disease are manifested mainly in adults, it is
increasingly bejer understood that the development of
these condi6ons starts in childhood and adolescence (Hallal
et al., 2006; Cook et al., 2009; Halfon et al., 2012). It appears
evident, then, that promo6on of health-enhancing behaviors
must also start early in life.
It is cri6cal that adolescents be offered appropriate physical Students going through
ac6vity programs that take into account the physical and regular physical changes such
sociocultural changes they are experiencing so they will be as puberty will benefit greatly
inspired to engage in physical ac6vity for a life6me. As from exercise during this 6me
discussed below, adequate physical ac6vity during puberty through increased bone
may be especially important for op6mal bone development density and avoidance of
and preven6on of excess adiposity, as puberty is a cri6cal gaining excess body fat.
developmental period for both the skeleton and the adipose
organ.
Child and adolescent obesity defined by BMI remains at all- More children than ever are
6me highs. Popula6on surveys indicate that approximately experiencing obesity, with the
33 percent of all boys and girls are overweight, and nearly condi6on being more likely to
one in five are obese (Ogden and Flegal, 2011). The tendency persist into adulthood,
for excess fatness to persist from childhood and adolescence leading to the
into adulthood (Daniels et al., 2005), coupled with the strong aforemen6oned chronic
associa6on between obesity and chronic disease (Weiss and diseases.
Caprio, 2005; Barlow, 2007), has caused great concern for
future obesity levels and the health of youth and adults alike
(IOM, 2005, 2012b).
Physical ac6vity is inversely correlated with percent body fat Increased physical ac6vity has
(Rowlands et al., 2000; Lohman et al., 2006), although the a direct correla6on to lower
correla6ons are modest, and changes in overall fatness as BMI.
well as subcutaneous adipose 6ssue with habitual physical
ac6vity are reasonably well documented in children and
adolescents (Gu6n and Humphries, 1998; Gu6n and Owens,
1999; Dionne et al., 2000).
Numerous observa6onal studies have established the I found this excerpt to be
associa6on between physical ac6vity and mental health but interes6ng. The author states
are inadequate to clarify the direc6on of that associa6on that although there is a
(Strong et al., 2005). It may be that physical ac6vity improves connec6on between posi6ve
mental health, or it may be that people are more physically mental health and physical
ac6ve when they are mentally healthy. Most likely the ac6vity, there is a chance that
rela6onship is bidirec6onal. it is due to bejer mental
health leading to more
physical ac6vity as other way
around.
One study of low-income Hispanic children randomized to an This directly relates to me, as
aerobic intensity program found that the interven6on group I serve a predominately
was less likely to present with depression but did not report Hispanic student popula6on. I
reduced anxiety (Crews et al., 2004; Hallal et al., 2006). would be curious as to why
physical ac6vity has a posi6ve
impact on depression but not
anxiety, according to this
study.