High Schools           

PE4LIFE Encouraged By Report to President               
to Get America's Youth Physically Active                   
Non-Profit Leads Effort To Foster Private And Public Sector Partnerships             
To Promote Physical Education In Schools               

WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 29, 2000) PE4LIFE (physical education for life), a national, not-for-profit organization promoting the renewal of physical education programs in our nation's schools, lauded the White House release of a new report, Promoting Better Health for Young People through Physical Activity and Sports that focuses much attention on renewing school-based physical education as an important part of any national plan of action to develop active healthy children.

 "This report is a valuable endorsement for why PE4LIFE was formed," said Jim Baugh, President of Wilson Sporting Goods and Founder of PE4LIFE.  "We will continue to focus on building more public and private sector partnerships to provide leadership in raising awareness about how physical education is a key for getting our kids active again."

The Report to the President offers ten national strategies designed to promote lifelong participation in enjoyable and safe physical activity and sports; four of the ten specifically deal with school-based physical education programs. They are:  1)  Help all children, from pre-kindergarten through grades grade 12, to receive quality, daily physical education.  Help all schools to have certified physical education specialists; appropriate class sizes; and the facilities, equipment, and supplies needed to deliver quality, daily physical education; 2)  Publicize and disseminate tools to help schools improve their physical education and other physical activity programs; 3) Enable state education and health departments to work together to help schools implement quality, daily education and other physical activity programs; a) With a full-time state coordinator for school physical activity programs, b) As part of a coordinated school health program, c) With support from relevant governmental and nongovernmental organizations; 4) Implement an ongoing media campaign to promote physical education as an important component of a quality education and long-term health.

"I am very encouraged by the depth and tone of this report, especially its extensive focus on physical education," said Anne Flannery , Executive Director of PE4LIFE. "School-based physical education is our best delivery system for providing children with the opportunity to develop lifelong physical activity habits. And we can't underestimate the power of that education.  We continue to see the evidence daily, whether it's the military, the police or companies in the private sector that lose employees who can't handle the physical rigors of the job-that the decline in our kid's physical activity levels has serious consequences because inactive children become inactive adults."

AT ISSUE
Today, health problems related to physical inactivity run rampant among our young people.  Six million U.S. children are overweight to the point where their health is endangered, with an additional five million on the threshold.  Right now, children are showing up in record numbers with inactivity and weight-related health risks previously only seen in adults, including "adult-onset" diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

STATE OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN US SCHOOLS
While 47 U.S. States have weekly mandates for P.E. they all - even Illinois, the only State to have a daily P.E. requirement - allow a P.E. waiver. In fact, only 25% of pubic schools require daily P.E. and fewer than 50% of U.S. schools offer P.E. at all.  P.E. requirements in U.S. public schools have been decreasing for 20 years as a result of the tightening school budgets and additional academic requirements, a drop from 42% in 1991.

PE4LIFE
PE4LIFE began as a sporting goods industry advocacy effort in support of the PEP (Physical Education for Progress) Act, which is currently before the U.S. Congress. If passed, the PEP Act will provide $400 million over five years for grants and contracts to local education agencies to initiate, expand and improve physical education programs for all K-12 students. Realizing the need to expand the efforts beyond federal legislation, PE4LIFE has expanded its role into a national organization to raise awareness about the state of physical education in our nation's schools, educate parents and school officials about the benefits of a quality physical education program and provide information for those who wish to help reverse this trend in their own communities.

Since its inception, PE4LIFE has been strengthening partnerships with other leading organizations such as National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), the professional sports leagues, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

[Source: Anne Flannery, PE4Life, (202) 776-0377,  Geoff Phelps, The Sherry Group, (973) 884-8700]

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