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Don't repeal & replace PE!: Letter to the Editor, The Atlantic

Just submitted the following letter to the editor to The Atlantic, in response to

Making grants without requiring high-quality evidence-based strategies, as Texas Fitness Now did, often does not end well--especially when combined with “bad PE” at a number of schools.  But contradicting the stereotypes, Desy, Peterson & Brockman showed that “gym” is actually the favorite subject of many middle-schoolers.  So beware the unintended collateral damage:  continuing to slash PE (& recess) risks further demotivating large numbers of students, many of whom are already at-risk.  “No PE” may be even more of a threat to student engagement & success than “bad PE.” 

And we should not look at this issue in isolation.  How can we keep cutting physical education, as we enter our 5th decade of a deadly serious chronic disease epidemic now affecting the majority of Americans—especially when so much disease is caused by inactivity & unhealthy nutrition, starting in childhood? 

Instead, we need “good PE” as part of the solution.  K-12 school settings with enough quality physical & health education, recess, nutrition, & other evidence-based whole-child practices, play an irreplaceable role in developing healthy habits for the next generation.  We do not have a second chance for a 13-year-long opportunity to reach everyone, at an ideal stage of life for change.  
  
With the right combination of evidence-based, scalable, effective, affordable & self-funding strategies—including “good PE” —we have a promising path forward to better lives for all. 

Scott Turner, MBA, MA, PhD
President & CEO, Healthy Future US
Scott.Turner@HealthyFutureUS.org

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