Students will get more physical education to combat obesity

Current seventh-graders will be the first batch of Tennessee kids under the new requirement
By NATALIA MIELCZAREK • The TENNESSEAN • April 21, 2008

Tennessee students will have to sweat more to earn a high school diploma.

A new requirement for students to take an extra half-credit of physical education, approved recently as part of the state's sweeping high school revisions, aims to combat Tennessee's childhood obesity epidemic. About 43 percent of students in the state are obese, state officials said.

Current seventh-graders will be the first batch of Tennessee kids to do it, and Zoe Turner-Yovanovitch, 12, is among them.

"This is going to be a good thing so students can be more active," said Zoe, a seventh-grader at Metro's J.T. Moore Middle School. "Sometimes students don't have time, between school and homework, to do anything, so it's important to do it during school. I like PE because I like playing the different sports and running around."

The state is also about to approve a revised physical education curriculum, which will promote more exercise and movement than in the past. Tennessee high school students now have to take one credit of health, physical fitness or wellness education to meet graduation requirements.

State lawmakers passed a law in 2006 mandating 90 minutes of physical activity a week in schools. It went into effect this school year. That physical activity — as opposed to physical education — doesn't have to be taught and supervised by certified PE teachers and may include a walk outdoors or stretches before class.

"More PE matters," said Dr. Gregory Plemmons, medical director of pediatric weight management clinic at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

"Many of the kids I see who are in 10th and 11th grades don't have any PE. The problem I see is, you want PE to be a quality experience as well as quantity experience. PE is often running laps. It should be fun and engaging."

That's why in Stacia Dean's PE and wellness class at Hendersonville High School, students can choose from a menu of activities, including stretching, Pilates and walking.

"I'd love to see every kid be able to have PE every semester and every day," Dean said. "It's not just helping them physically, it's helping them mentally. They do better academically. This is life-long learning, not just make them come in and play baseball."

National recommendations suggest that students in grades K-8 get 150 minutes of physical activity a week and 225 minutes in high school.

Most Tennessee students don't come close, said Susan Brotherton, PE specialist with the state Department of Education.

"Can quality physical education change the obesity epidemic? Absolutely, if the students are given time to do it," she said.

"Do we give them the time they actually need? No, we don't. We don't come close to meeting the recommended minutes nationally in most of our schools in Tennessee."