Physical education (PE) and exercise play vital roles in the healthy development of a child, yet for many schools PE is often underrated. According to Dr. Gregory Myer, director of research at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center's Sports Medicine Division, many kids only get PE once a week. While students must be well prepared academically, can students really thrive and reach their fullest potential without being given an opportunity time to be physically active throughout the school day? Myers believes it's time we take a new approach to how we look at physical activity. Instead of just looking at minutes spent being active, perhaps we need to take into account more. Myers says we should begin exploring aspects of physical activity that might lead to: (1) ...
In 2011, two years after Latino parents in Chicago began working to raise awareness of the need for recess in schools, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) finally announced they would be working to reincorporate recess back into the school day. According to a blog post from the Healthy Schools Campaign a group of parents from the Parents United For Healthy Schools organization gathered over 4,000 signatures as part of a petition in support of recess. This helped ultimately get the attention of the district's Office of Student Health and Wellness (OSHW), who's mission is to oversee the well being of students and the implementation of health promoting policies for the district. Research shows that schools with mostly Latino students are less likely to offer students at least 20 minutes ...
Policymakers in Virginia, a state with one of the largest Salvadorean populations in the U.S., have proposed legislation that would require all K-5th grade schools to offer students at least 20 minutes of daily physical activity. If passed the new law would make physical activity a priority for students in the state of Virginia, by ensuring that all students have the opportunity to participate in activities such as PE, recess, and extracurricular activities on a day to day basis. According to a Newsplex.com report, Senator John Miller of Newport News, who introduced the bill into the Senate said: "Requiring 20 minutes of physical activity every day a child is in school is the right thing to do and it will not require additional funding..." The importance making physical ...
According to California state law, all elementary school students should receive a minimum of 200 minutes of physical education (PE) every 10 days. For middle school students the number increases to 400 minutes of PE every 10 days. Unfortunately, Latino students, along with other minority & low-income students, are often denied access to physical education, despite widespread support for physical education among California's constituents. In fact, The City Project reports that Californians not only favor PE, but they support it more than any other obesity prevention policy. When low-income students and students of color receive disproportionately lower levels of physical education and schools fail to comply with state law---The City Project says this becomes a civil rights ...
Over 1,000 kids (including many Latinos) will be running in the New York Road Runners' (NYRR) first-ever Times Square Kids Run! The free event which is part of the NYRR's Five-Borough Series is set to kick-off on Sunday March 15, 2015 alongside the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon.
Events like these are especially important for Latino kids who are often faced with multiple barriers to physical activity.
For kids at one school, PS 159 in the Bronx, programs like the NYRR's young runners program provide them with the opportunity to be physically active on a regular basis. At PS 159, teacher Sally Bojorquez leads the running team in morning runs on a weekly basis. For some of the students running in the race, this will be their first time leaving the Bronx. Starting at ...
A House bill aimed at increasing daily physical activity among elementary school students was introduced to the Maryland legislature, Feb. 4, 2015. If enacted, elementary school students would receive a total of 150 minutes per week of physical activity, with a minimum of 90 minutes devoted to physical education (PE). According to the bill, the remaining minutes should consist of "developmentally appropriate moderate-to-vigorous," activities such as recess. Additionally, the bill would require that all public elementary schools develop a physical activity leadership team who would oversee the planning of activities that would increase the quality and quantity of physical activity.The state board would be responsible for adopting regulations that would facilitate the implementation ...
Senators and representatives in Idaho, a state with a quickly growing Latino community, are tracking their steps, water intake, and servings of fruits and vegetables as part of a month long, friendly competition aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles and fighting childhood obesity. According to a Fox9 report 50 state legislators are taking part in a competition organized by health insurance provider Blue Cross of Idaho. At the end of the competition the three legislators who track the most physical activity and record eating more fruits and vegetables will win $5,000 from the Blue Cross of Idaho to go toward providing healthier options to elementary school children in their district. Funds will provide for outdoor exercise equipment, healthier meal options, and any other ...
Our friends over at Active Living Research (ALR) have done a wonderful job of creating a new Spanish infographic titled: "Hay Lugares Seguros Para Que Todos Los Ninos Puedan Realizar Actividades Físicas?" This translated version of ALR's popular "Do All Kids Have Safe Places to Be Active?" infographic was a collaborative effort between ALR and Salud America! The infographic paints a clear picture of the multiple barriers that keep children from low-income, Latino, and African American communities from being active. Despite the lack of recreational facilities, broken sidewalks, inadequate time for recess, and higher rates of automobile crashes and crime that exist in these underserved communities, there's hope! By working for improved policies and improvements to ...
A settlement between two California parents and 37 school districts will require elementary schools to show proof that they are providing enough physical education (PE) time to students. As a result of the recent settlement, elementary school teachers will be required to publicly document how many minutes of PE students are getting. In the case that PE time is missed, the teacher must provide an explanation for why the lesson was missed and how they will replace those minutes. Parents will be able to access information on how many minutes of PE students are getting and local school boards will review schedules, according to a news article from the California Report. “We think it’s a huge accomplishment and it’s going to benefit public health in California,” said attorney ...
