Skip to main content

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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is it a “Miracle Drug”?...if it Costs a Fortune and Creates Lifelong Dependency...&...Saggy Faces!?

[It’s been a while since our last blog post.  A lot has happened since– including some “miracles” ! So we’re going to do two posts in a row…] Normally we should all be happy about miracle drugs... shouldn't we ? Yes, there is lots of upside from taking semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy), tirzepatide (Montjaro)--and upcoming new, even-more-miraculous drugs TBD:  losing huge amounts of weight quickly, a much lower risk of diabetes–and probably less heart disease and other chronic conditions as well.  But what if the “miracle” requires:   $200-300/week, with a lifetime cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars…  a drug that you can never quit…because if you stop taking it, you gain back all the weight it helped you lose–not to mention the chronic diseases which the drugs kept at bay… and it leaves your face (and the rest of your skin?) sagging …    (plus, it’s so new at such high dosages– who knows what happens after years of use…? ) No doubt, in spit...
4 comments
Read more

Smoking out the pessimism on changing health habits: adult smoking is down 2/3 !!

Only 14% of US adults smoke now --compared to 42% just over 50 years ago. That's a 2/3 decline. Yet many of us think that we can't change Americans' unhealthy activity & nutrition habits. Why has smoking gone down so dramatically, while obesity & diabetes keep going up?  Well, we actually seriously tried, as a society & a political system, to reduce smoking.  We have not seriously tried to reverse obesity & diabetes. How did we reduce smoking so much?  Here is my grading of how poorly we are doing, at using strategies that worked against smoking--to fight inactivity & unhealthy nutrition: - Broad & profound awareness of seriousness of problem  (D) - Strong physical & health education programs in schools  (D) - Hard-hitting, pervasive public information campaigns  (F) - Very strong government health warnings  (D) - Large insurance premium discounts for healthy behavior  (D) - Cost-effective behavior cessati...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chronic disease at core of Big Apple COVID-19 deaths

A recent summary of COVID-19-related deaths in New York City  confirms the much higher mortality risks among those with underlying health conditions.  Among the >80% of fatalities for which underlying condition status was known, only 0.8% of  those dying  had no chronic disease.  As we know from prior reports, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease are underlying conditions very frequently associated with novel coronavirus deaths. Furthermore, chronic diseases make up the vast majority of "underlying conditions" among those who die.  (See earlier blog post.)  This pandemic has been another wake-up call on the continued dangers of failing to prevent the widespread inactivity & unhealthy nutrition leading to epidemic chronic disease.  Will we start making a serious effort to develop healthy habits, particularly K-12?  Or will we continue to hit the snooze button as health worsens?
Post a Comment
Read more