Decline of Physical Activity

In recent years, leading government health organizations have issued multiple reports outlining how a lack of exercise combined with poor eating habits are having devastating effects on the nation's children. One of the most alarming developments, according to organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, is the doubling of childhood obesity in the past 30 years—a trend they expect only to get worse as more schools eliminate gym classes and recess.

Researchers maintain that it's not just the schools that are dropping the ball when it comes to adequately promoting physical activity among young people: Parents also play a significant role in the problem. By not strictly limiting TV watching, computer and video game use, and consumption of fast food, and not requiring their children to walk more, play outdoors, and participate in organized physical activities, more kids are putting on more pounds, and in many cases, setting themselves up for the risky medical problems that accompany obesity.

Among the legions of young people in every age group who fail to get enough exercise, the biggest decline in physical activity occurs when students reach high school, according to CDC's 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The report showed that more than one-third of high school students do not regularly participate in vigorous physical activity (at least three 20-minute sessions per week). And only one-half of high school students regularly engage in stretching and strengthening exercises. The survey also showed that physical activity declines sharply as students get closer to graduation, and that the amount of physical activity is lower among high-school girls, particularly among African-American and Hispanic girls.

At School
Once customary for children at nearly every grade level, gym class, in recent years, has been steadily scaled back. Just during the past decade, the number of U.S. high school students attending daily physical education classes dropped from 42 to 29 percent. Currently, nearly half of all students and 75 percent of high school students do not attend any physical education classes, according to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), the nation's largest organization for physical education teachers. Judith Young, executive director of NASPE, maintains that schools cut gym classes for lack of funding, but more often cuts result from time constraints that develop with the addition of new curriculum. "Standards-based reform has been detrimental to physical education," said Young.

Young said it troubles her to see gym classes eliminated, especially when physical education curriculum is getting better. Historically, she explained, physical education programs did a poor job of promoting life-long physical activity, and focused almost exclusively on a handful of competitive sports, such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball, and baseball. According to a November 2000 report to the president from the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Education, kids need to be taught less competitive activities—such as bicycling, running, and swimming—because they're more likely to carry these activities into their adult lives.

As gym classes get elbowed out of the curriculum in favor of other subjects, recess, in many school districts, is also in jeopardy. An estimated 40 percent of U.S. school districts either have eliminated recess or are considering eliminating it, said Rhonda Clements, president for the American Association of the Child's Right to Play. Some school districts cite safety and supervision issues as reasons for eliminating recess, explained Clements. But more likely, she said, recess is chucked in favor of an expanded curriculum.

Clements argues that disposing of recess is a deeply misguided approach to education, given the lack of physical activity in the lives of many children. Recess, she explained, offers the only opportunity for students to engage in activities of their own choosing, and the unstructured activity in turn helps fulfill a host of needs related to socialization, imagination, exercise, and being outdoors. "Physical education is an academic subject," said Clements. "Recess allows kids to practice the skills they learned in P.E. The two need to go together."

At home
Raising a physically active child calls for continual support and encouragement from the family, said Randolph Wykoff, a deputy assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services. "When a child joins a team or club, it should be treated as a family commitment," explained Wykoff, who is also acting director of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Kids need family support, but most importantly, he said, they need adults in their lives who are serving as physically active role models.

Another valuable method for encouraging physical activity at home, said Wykoff, is limiting a child's sedentary leisure activities. According to a 1999 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, young people, aged 2-18, spend on average more than four hours a day playing video games, using a computer, viewing video tapes, and watching television. Most of this time—nearly three hours—is spent in front of a television. TV squeezes out time that could be spent in physically active pursuits, but also TV affects what children want to eat, explained William Dietz, a nutritionist at CDC. "We know it affects patterns of food consumption, wrote Dietz last year in CDC's Chronic Disease Notes and Reports. "Children eat foods they see advertised on TV. If you've seen any children's shows, you know that these foods tend to be fast foods, sugared breakfast cereals, and snacks. TV is a behavioral health hazard."

If children don't adopt good eating and exercising habits, their body fat will likely increase, as will their risk for various health maladies, including high blood pressure, diabetes, elevated cholesterol, heart disease, and liver trouble, explained Dietz. The CDC reports that 13 percent of all kids age 6-17 are seriously overweight, up from 5 percent in 1964. More girls compared to boys are obese, as are more Hispanic and African-American children compared to white children.

The older the obese child gets, the more likely he or she will continue to be obese as an adult, said Bernard Gutin, a researcher in childhood obesity and a professor of pediatrics and physiology at the Medical College of Georgia. In order to prevent obesity, "kids have to be put in an environment where exercise is available," said Gutin. "Parents may have to find that environment for their child if it's not available at the school." Gutin said a recent shock to pediatricians has been the growing number of adolescents with type 2 diabetes, a more serious type of diabetes that until recently was only seen in adults.

Getting kids in shape
The U.S. Surgeon General says that frequent bouts of physical activity enable children to build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints, and avoid high bloodpressure. Studies looking at the benefits of physical activity on academic performance have been inconclusive, but there's likely an indirect connection, considering all the psychological rewards that come with being physically fit. Numerous studies from the Department of Health and Human Services and other organizations report that sports and physical activity—for children and adults—reduces anxiety and depression, builds self-esteem, and enhances various skills, such as teamwork, self-discipline, sportsmanship, leadership, and socialization.

So how much physical activity do kids need? Experts generally say it depends on their age. The 1994 International Consensus Conference on Physical Activity Guidelines for Adolescents recommended that adolescents participate in physical activity every day as a part of transportation, sports, games, or planned exercise. To build cardiovascular endurance, adolescents should engage in moderate to vigorous exercise three or more times a week for at least 20 minutes each session. For elementary-aged kids, NASPE recommends at least 60-minutes and up to several hours of age-appropriate exercise on all or most days of the week. This includes vigorous physical activity for several 10-15 minute sessions each day.

These recommendations—among many others—were used by the Department of Health and Human Services in developing Healthy People 2010, an extensive report which mapped out national health priorities for the next decade in areas such as nutrition, cancer, mental health, and physical activity for adults and children. To reach the physical activity goals for children, the report recommended increasing the availability of community fitness facilities, increasing walking and bicycle riding, and increasing the availability and quality of physical education classes. It also set forth national goals for shortening children's sedentary leisure activities, curtailing junk food consumption, and reducing obesity levels. Most importantly, the report reminded parents and schools that kids need help developing an itch to be active, that they need support and encouragement in order to discover a life-long enthusiasm for physical activity.