How Much Physical Education Is Required of Georgia Students?

Percentage of High School Students Who Were Obese* Selected US States, Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2011,  Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 2011. “Obese Youth Over Time,” available at http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/obesity-youth.htm.

In the wake of the passage of Georgia's new SHAPE Program, I started wondering just how much physical education is presently part of the Georgia public school curriculum.  SHAPE,which went into effect on May 23, 2012, was passed by the Georgia State Legislature in 2009.  It is designed to address childhood obesity.  It establishes an annual fitness assessment for students who are enrolled in a physical education class in public school.  However, many Georgia high school and middle school students are not enrolled in physical education classes, since physical education is not mandatory for Grades 6 to 12.  So, to sum it up, many teens are not required to flex one muscle, other than their brains, during school hours. Recent research like the 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation Study on Media Use by Children and Teens confirms that teen media use, an undeniably sedentary activity, is up dramatically.  According to the Center for Disease Control Statistics on Teen Obesity, teen obesity has virtually tripled over the past 30 years, increasing from 5% to 18% for children ages 12 to 19 from 1980 to 2008.  While there is controversy over whether there is a link between media usage and teen obesity, we may need to consider a school curriculum change for teens across the country, including Georgia.   Consider  The Georgia State Board of Education Physical Education Rules which require "90 contact hours" of health and physical education per year (about 30 minutes per day) for Grades K-5.  Students in Grades 6 - 12 are only required to have health and physical education made "available" to them.  The SHAPE Program is a start in the right direction.  Lets carry the baton to the next milestone and figure out a way to assess teen fitness in Georgia.  And, maybe we could go even further and start an initiative to bring some fitness instruction back into the middle schools and high schools.