Need To Expand Physical Activity In Schools: Walking Forum Report

“Among the solutions proposed by teachers, researchers and others who met during a roundtable discussion of the issues at a major international conference at the University of Illinois, is the integration of physical activity programming throughout the curriculum in the nation's schools. In other words, the group recommended that physical activity no longer be confined to the domain of the physical education classes. ‘There are a number of steps that can be taken to accomplish this,’ said U. of I. kinesiology and community health professor Weimo (pronounced WE-moh) Zhu, the lead organizer of the ‘Walking for Health’ conference. For example, ‘science teachers can teach the science behind physical activity - theories about energy transfer. Or teachers can combine graphics and arts, going on a walk to look at different parts of the city.’ A summary of the group's findings and recommendations was compiled in a recently published consensus report titled ‘We Move the Kids.’ Zhu called the supplement ‘the most comprehensive collection of the current literature on walking.’ Chodzko-Zajko [head of the kinesiology and community health department and a co-author of the roundtable report] said the concept of integrating topics across the curriculum is not necessarily a new pedagogical idea. "If you talk to the pedagogy people, they say two things: Kids need physical education, where they learn motor skills and activities that are going to set them up to develop the competencies they need to be physically active. But they also need to know how to be regularly physically active. ‘So there's a double mission. The school has a responsibility to educate them in motor skills but also provide students with an opportunity to be active.’ And, Chodzko-Zajko said, ‘many schools are failing in both regards, without question.’ He noted that while schools are federally mandated to have wellness plans, many - including those within walking distance of the site of the 2005 walking conference - don't employ teachers trained specifically in physical education. On a more positive note, U. of I. kinesiology professor Amelia Woods, another co-author of the ‘We Move the Kids’ report who has worked one on one with teachers in Champaign, Ill., elementary schools, said ‘there are some really innovative physical educators in this community.’”

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/123741.php