National Association for Sport and Physical Education
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Key Message Points

Shape of Our Nation’s Children
Overweight Among Youth
  • The percentage of young people who are overweight has more than tripled since 1980. Among children and teens age 6 to 19 years, 16% (over 9 million young people) are overweight.1
  • About 10% of children age 2 to 5 are overweight. 2
  • Four in 10 Mexican-American and African-American youths ages 6 to 19 are overweight or at risk of being overweight. 2
  • Approximately 60% of obese children age five to 10 years have at least one cardiovascular disease risk factor, such as elevated total cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, or blood pressure and 25% have two or more risk factors. 3 
  • Overweight children and adolescents are more likely to become obese adults. Approximately 80% of children who were overweight at 10 to 15 years old were obese at 25. 4
     
Participation in Physical Activity by Young PeopleBack To The Top
  • At age nine, children engage in moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) approximately three hours per day. By age 15, adolescents engage in MVPA for only 49 minutes per weekday and 35 minutes per weekend day. 5
  • Only 67.8% of elementary schools provide daily recess for students in all grades in the school. 6
  • Only 35% of high school students meet the recommended levels of physical activity. 7
  • Nearly 25% of high school students did not participate in 60 or more minutes of any kind of physical activity that increased their heart rate and made them breathe hard some of the time. 7
Participation in School Physical Education Back To The Top
  • Almost 4% of elementary schools, 7.9% of middle schools and 2.1% of high schools provide daily physical education or its equivalent (150 minutes per week in elementary schools; 225 minutes per week in middle schools and high schools) for the entire school year (36 weeks) for students in all grades in the school. 6
  • Almost 14% of elementary schools, 15.2% of middle schools, and 3% of high schools provide physical education at least three days per week or its equivalent for the entire school year for students in all grades in the schools. 6
  • Among schools that required physical education, 20.8% of elementary schools, 22.7% of middle schools and 30.9% of high schools allowed students to be exempted from physical education requirements for at least one of the following reasons: high physical competency test score, participation in community service activities, participation in community sports activities, and participation in school activities other than sports (e.g., band or chorus). 6
Public Support for Physical Education Back To The Top
  • Ninety five percent of parents said that physical education should be included in the school curriculum for all students in kindergarten through grade 12.8 
  • Eight five percent of parents and 81% of teachers believe that students should be required to take physical education every day at every grade level 8 and 92% of teens said that they should receive daily physical education. 8
  • More than 75% of parents and teachers believe that school boards should not eliminate physical education for budgetary reasons or because of the need to meet stricter academic standards. 9
National Recommendations Back To The Top

School-age youths should participate daily in 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity that is developmentally appropriate, enjoyable, and involves a variety of activities.9,10,11

All elementary school students should participate in at least 150 minutes per week of physical education, and all middle and high school students should participate in at least 225 minutes of physical education, for the entire school year.12,13,14,15,16

National Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans

Children and adolescents should do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of physical activity daily.

Aerobic: Most of the 60 or more minutes a day should be either moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, and should include vigorous-intensity physical activity at least 3 days a week.

Muscle-strengthening: As part of their 60 or more minutes of daily physical activity, children and adolescents should include muscle-strengthening physical activity on at least 3 days of the week.

Bone-strengthening: As part of their 60 or more minutes of daily physical activity, children and adolescents should include bone-strengthening physical activity on at least 3 days of the week.

National Standards for Physical Education

Standard 1: Demonstrates competency in motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety of physical activities.

Standard 2: Demonstrates understanding of movement concepts, principles, strategies, and tactics as they apply to the learning and performance of physical activities.

Standard 3: Participates regularly in physical activity.

Standard 4: Achieves and maintains a health-enhancing level of physical fitness.

Standard 5: Exhibits responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others in physical activity settings.

Standard 6: Values physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, and/or social interaction.

 
 Critical Elements of a Quality Physical Education Program Back To The Top
  1. Physical education is delivered by certified/licensed physical education teachers.
  2. Adequate time (i.e., 150 minutes per week for elementary school students; 225 minutes per week for middle and high school students) is provided for physical education at every grade, K to 12.
  3. All states develop standards for student learning in physical education that reflect the National Standards for Physical Education.
  4. All states set minimum standards for student achievement in physical education.
  5. Successfully meeting minimum standards in physical education is a requirement for high school graduation.
 
What do we want from the U.S. Congress? Back To The Top

Support Fitness Integrated with Teaching Kids (FIT Kids) Act, S.634 and H.R. 1585. Encourage members of Congress to sponsor this important piece of legislation that will amend the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act to support quality physical education and activity for all public school children through grade 12 and ensure they receive important health and nutritional information. Act Now!

Fund the Carol M. White Physical Education for Progress Act (PEP) in FY 2011 for $100 million. Learn More.

NASPE urges policymakers, school administrators, teachers and families to join together to provide a balanced and comprehensive education of the whole child for life in the 21st century.

 

Youth Sports Participation Back To The Top

Quality youth sport experiences provide important developmental opportunities for children and youth. Quality sport programs provide a positive, safe and self-enhancing experience for all participants. Well-qualified coaches are the key to quality sport experiences.

The eight domains of the new second edition of Quality Coaches, Quality Sports: NationalStandards for Sport Coaches are as follows:

  • Philosophy and ethics
  • Safety and injury prevention
  • Physical conditioning
  • Growth and development
  • Teaching and communications
  • Sport skills and tactics
  • Organization and Administration
  • Evaluation

 

References
  1. Hedley, A. A., Ogden, C. L., Johnson, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Curtin, L. R., & Flegal, K. M. (2004). Overweight and obesity among U.S. children, adolescents, and adults, 1999-2002. Journal of the American Medical Association, 291(23), 2847-2850.
  2. Ogden, C. L., Flegal, K. M., Carroll, M. D., & Johnson, C. L. (2002). Prevalence and trends in overweight among U.S. children and adolescents, 1999-2000. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(14),1728-1732.
  3. Freedman, D. S., Khan, L. K., Dietz, W. H., Srinivason, S. R., & Berenson, G. S. (2001). Relationship of childhood obesity to coronary heart disease risk factors in adulthood: The Bogalusa heart study. Pediatrics, 108(3), 712-718.
  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2009). Overweight and Obesity. Consequences. Retrieved February 27, 2009 from http://www.cdc.gov/NCCDPHP/DNPA/obesity/childhood/consequences.htm.
  5. Nader, P.R., R.H. Bradley, R.M. Houts, S.L. McRitchie, and M. O'Brien. "Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity from Ages 9 to 15 Years." Journal of the American Medical Association 300, no. 3 (2008): 295-305.
  6. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "School Health Policies and Programs Study 2006." Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2007.
  7. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance - United States, 2007." Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 57, no. SS-4 (2008): 1-136.
  8. National Association for Sport and Physical Education. (2003). Parents’ views of children’s health & fitness: A summary of results [Executive summary]. Reston, VA: Author.
  9. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2003). National poll shows parents and teachers agree on solutions to childhood obesity [News release]. Princeton, NJ: Author.
  10. Strong, W. B., Malina, R. M., Bumkie, C. J. R., Daniels, S. R., Dishman, R. K., Gutin, B., Hergenroeder, A. C., Must, A., Nixon, P. A., Pivarnik, J. M., Rowland, T., Trost, S., & Trudeau, F. (2005). Evidence based physical activity for school-age youth. Journal of Pediatrics, 146, 732-737.
  11. U.S. Department of Agriculture & U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000). Nutrition and you health: Dietary guidelines for Americans (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
  12. National Association for Sport and Physical Education. (2004). Physical activity for children: A statement of guidelines for children ages 5-12 (2nd ed.). Reston, VA: Author.
  13. National Association for Sport and Physical Education. (2000). Opportunity to learn standards for elementary school physical education. Reston, VA: Author.
  14. National Association for Sport and Physical Education. (2004). Opportunity to learn standards for middle school physical education. Reston, VA: Author.
  15. National Association for Sport and Physical Education. (2004). Opportunity to learn standards for high school physical education. Reston, VA: Author.
  16. National Association of State Boards of Education. (2000). Fit, healthy, and ready to learn: A school health policy guide. Part 1: Physical activity, healthy eating, and tobacco-use prevention. Alexandria, VA: Author.