The idea of a tax on soda seemed like a good one to many people. After all, the sugar in soda and the resulting increase in calorie consumption has been a concern to health advocates for some time.

Well. Put that on the back burner for now. According the the LA Times, "Employing a broad-based lobbying effort, the soft drink industry has smothered a plan to tax sugared beverages -- a plan advocates said would have reduced obesity and helped…
Ohio legislators this week are discussing mandating Physical Education for all students.

Senator McCarthy and Kent State University professor Steve Mitchell said increased physical activity helps students to focus more on their studies, demonstrate better school attendance, increased test scores and have fewer disciplinary issues, during a press conference at the Ohio Statehouse Jan. 13.

And Mitchell downplayed criticism that the legislation wou…
Common sense tells us that a communitiy that cannot sustain the physical health of its citizens places their long-term existence at serious risk.

Opinion- Valley Voices- Fresno, CA

Retired Physical Education teacher and advocate Joe Herzog's opinion in his local newspaper. Go Joe. You make us proud.

Children struggle to learn in school, work place performance suffers and as we've seen in recent years, the military rejects almost as many …
A new study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine finds that the majority of the nation’s Head Start programs report doing more to support healthy eating and physical activity than is required by existing federal regulations. Head Start is the nation’s largest federally funded early childhood education program, serving one million low-income preschool students, 30 percent of whom are obese or overweight.

Study findings.

Perhaps its…
One of the recommendations that the Commission to Prevent Childhood Obesity presented to the Governor and the New Hampshire Department of Education is reinstate the Physical Education and Health Coordinator at the state level.

Click here for the additional recommendations from the commission.
Lincoln University's recent decision to require students to undergo a physical examination before graduation has upset some students, the Lincolnian reports. If a student's body mass index surpasses 30, he or she must complete a physical education class in order to graduate.

Opponents of the requirement say the university is discriminating against obese people. More on new requirement...
School-based physical education plays a key role in curbing obesity and improving fitness among adolescents from low-income communities, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley. The study, which identifies opportunities for adolescents to improve their health based on routine daily activities, finds that regular participation in PE class is significantly associated with greater c…
Advocates for school-based physical activity programs argue that allocating time for daily physical education does not adversely impact academic performance. In fact, according to seven studies reviewed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and released in a policy brief called Active Education, the effects of physical activity on elementary students resulted in improvements in academic performace, focus and classroom behavior.
How do you get people to be more physically active? Make it fun! View short video.


Related posts:
Physical Education Case Study.

Low-Cost High-Activity Playgrounds
The Research Report called, " Bubbling Over: Soda Consumption and Its Link to Obesity in California" found that 41 percent of children (ages 2 - 11), 62 percent of adolescents (ages 12 - 17) and 24 percent of adults drink at least one soda or other sugar-sweetened beverage every day. Regardless of income or ethnicity, adults who drink one or more sodas or other sugar-sweetened beverages every day are 27 percent more likely to be overwe…
A panel of experts representing 27 national organizations and government agencies gave the Peaceful Playgrounds Physical Activity Program their highest rating of excellent! Their Best in Class Award noted the program brought about "whole school change."

Action for Healthy Kids
National experts rated excellent! Peaceful Playgrounds addresses a number of national standards. "Their rapid expansion attests that the approach is both prac…
A study from Ohio State University found that physical education injuries have increased by 150% over the last decade.

Watch the short video on the 6 sports that account for 70% of all PE related injuries.
Video Link.
Mrs. Obama harvested the first crop of fruits and vegetables from the The White House by establishing an organic garden on the South Lawn not long after moving to Washington.

Surrounded by participating elementary school children, Obama spoke about her pride in the project, and the immense value of the lessons learned. “We can continue to make the connection between what we eat and how we feel, and how healthy we are,” she said, before encourag…
The obesity epidemic has spurred many parents to try to get their kids to spend less time in front of the TV or computer and more time running around outside. But a new study suggests that kids who exercise aren’t only in better physical shape; they’re happier, too.

Canadian researcher Mark Holder and colleagues asked 375 children, ages 8-12, about what they did for fun, paying special attention to the amount of time the kids said they spent in “…
In case you missed it, this week Time Magazine has an article entitled, "Gym Class: Why kids' exercise matters less than we think." The article cites the information from last weeks blog post entitled, "Physical Activity : Is it influenced by Physical Education?"

The study and Time article questioned the value of physical education as an obesity intervention based on the research finding that the total weekly physical a…
Research indicates that a child who accumulated short bursts of moderate or vigorous exercise throughout the day was just as healthy as a child who did a similar amount of activity over longer sessions.

Published in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, the study focused on 47 boys, aged between eight and ten, the majority of whom were all in good health and within a healthy weight range. The results highlighted that the associations …
The National Association of State School Boards released a policy guide on Preventing Childhood Obesity.

Schools have many powerful tools at their disposal to serve as one of the primary agents to address the obesity crisis. Schools access to children is unique as children spend a significant amount of their day in school. The ability to educate and reinforce healthy behaviors provides the opportunity for schools to effect the community at larg…
by Andrea Bossenmeyer

Childhood obesity has taken center stage as children’s #1 health problem. Peaceful Playgrounds champions the efforts of individuals and organizations who actively work towards creating healthy bodies and minds. One such person we’d like to spotlight as a health advocate is Alice Waters.

She is known in the school community as the person behind, "The Edible Schoolyard" which demonstrates the transformative power of g…
AP - A striking new study says almost 1 in 5 American 4-year-olds is obese, and the rate is alarmingly higher among American Indian children, with nearly a third of them obese. Researchers were surprised to see differences by race at so early an age.
An article in the NY Times entitled:The 3 R’s? A Fourth Is Crucial, Too: Recess suggests that, "The best way to improve children’s performance in the classroom may be to take them out of it." This comes as no surprise to my blog readers but we can't hear it enough right?

The NY Times article cited the study published last month in the journal Pediatrics which looked at the links between recess and classroom behavior in children ag…