According to a documentary directed by former Brigham Young University film student Steven Greenstreet, the way schools have reacted to the federal law contributes to a national childhood obesity epidemic. So do a lot of other factors that play out on the schools' stages.

Greenstreet, director of the award-winning documentary "This Divided State," about filmmaker Michael Moore's 2004 visit to Utah Valley State College, is puttin…

It is the position of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) that all elementary school children should be provided with at least one daily period of recess of at least 20 minutes in length. Read more...

Volunteers in communities across the nation united in late October to perform community service projects for Make A Difference Day. The local Make a Difference Day event is led by the Volunteer Resource Center of SCV in cooperation with the city of Santa Clarita in Southern CA. Whenever there are large groups of children around, playgrounds are anything but peaceful. To address the issues of conflicts in games, bullying and the rise of childh…

Champions for Healthy Kids, a grant program introduced five years ago to encourage kids to eat healthy and stay active, is now accepting grant applications for 2008. The program is open to schools and community groups with innovative programs aimed at improving youth nutrition and fitness. The entry deadline is Jan. 15, 2008. Download application. The program is a partnership of the General Mills (NYSE: GIS) Foundation, the American Dietetic As…

Parents waiting to know if the Wii Games are a good investment for getting kids moving can find the answer in last week's release of the British Medical Journal.

Put simply. The Wii Games result in a wee amount of physical activity.

Parents are fooling themselves if they hope Nintendo's Wii active games console, which uses a wireless hand held controller to replicate athletic movement, will stop their youngster becoming obese, a study s…

The nation's second largest school system (Los Angeles Unified School District) has launched a Physical Education Campaign: Helping Students Move More, Eat Well, Stay Healthy, Do Their Best in School.

Components of the Campaign include:

First, a 55:1 cap on class size. WOW. 55 students to one teacher??? This seems outrageous. How can one teacher teacher 55 students?

Second, twenty-a-day: enforce California Education Code which mandates …

A Florida judge over turned a jury's $4 million award to a elementary school age boy that was bullied at recess. The judge cut the award to $600,000.

Hillsborough County Circuit Judge William Levens wrote in his order that the boy's attorney delivered an "improper and unfairly prejudicial" closing argument. The attorney's words, Levens wrote, were inflammatory and focused on punishment rather than the facts of the case.

On J…

I live on what's called "the Westside" of Los Angeles. Our local schools are in the 600 school Los Angeles Unified School District. My local elementary school called Kentwood Elementary is surrounded by 6 foot tall fences. On weekend and after school the school yard and playgrounds (like the majority of LAUSD schools) are closed and empty.

Slowly - way too slowly - but surely, Los Angeles city and school leaders are inching tow…

Check out the Bullying UK website for bullying resources for schools, parents, students . Sign up for their online newsletter or create and print a bullying poster.

Bullying UK is sponsoring Teachers TV in Anti-Bullying Week. These videos are playing as part of every web video we produce and can be seen on Teachers.TV Check out Nick Hall's inspirational song Sticks & Stones.

Amy Heuer; Bismarck, The Jamestown Sun

Two recent studies published by the New England Journal of Medicine on childhood obesity provide greater evidence that children are in dire need of quality physical education programs in schools. Overweight children have an increased risk for heart disease in adulthood as early as age 25, and are prone to premature heart attacks and strokes. Bottom line, our children are in trouble, and particularly here in …

Peaceful Playgrounds research has suggested that adding more consumable equipment like balls, bean bags and jump ropes to playgrounds results in more active children. (Peaceful Playgrounds Research)

A study published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine further substantiates that claim. Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health examined environmental factors that encourage child…

The CDC convened a panel of experts to evaluate the evidence for the beneficial effects of physical activity on a broad range of health outcomes and behaviors, including body fat content (adiposity) in school-aged youth, ages 6 to 18. The experts based their evaluation on more than 850 relevant scientific studies. Here we discuss only those findings related to overweight or obesity.

The panelists noted that comparing the findings among studies wa…

A new UCLA study has found that elementary schools can significantly increase the frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income students by providing a lunch salad bar.

The findings, published in the December issue of the international peer-reviewed journal Public Health Nutrition, show that the frequency of students' fruit and vegetable consumption increased significantly — from 2.97 to 4.09 times daily — after a salad bar w…

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Fitness research shows that when a computer talks the talk, even couch potatoes can be persuaded to walk the walk. Researchers at Stanford University, who studied sedentary people for a year, found that automated exercise reminder phone calls had about the same get-up-and-go power as calls from human counselors.

"The recording had a very nice, kind of cheerleader voice. It sounded very natural," said study partic…

California public school students are slightly trimmer and fitter than they were a year ago, but many still are unable to meet the state's basic level of fitness, according to figures released Thursday by the state Department of Education. And students in Los Angeles, especially high school students, were significantly less fit than the state average.

About 60% of students in fifth, seventh and ninth grades statewide passed an aerobic fitness…

Charles Kelly
The Arizona Republic

Your tax-credit donation can aid students in the Peoria Unified School District in many ways.

Rae Conelley, principal at Alta Loma Elementary School, can list a variety of them.

"We have used tax-credit money for so many opportunities that we might never have had," Conelley said. "The money that our patrons donate to us through the Arizona Tax Credit system has been used for programs that keep our ch…

There are a number of gift ideas to get sedentary children of all age active, says a Purdue University childhood fitness expert.

"The key is to find gifts that also motivate the entire family to move," says Carole DeHaven, a continuing lecturer in the Department of Health and Kinesiology. "Parents are the gatekeepers for healthy living. By providing activities that children enjoy, along with healthy food choices, we can help…

A clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends counteracting increased stress with more play, “which is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth.” Although play for children might seem intuitive, it is clear Americans must make play a priority in children’s lives.

While doctors are recommending that children spend more time playing, som…

High-tech "bully buttons" are being installed in some Australian schools so students can alert educators and trigger video cameras to record such incidents. "If students are confronted with footage then there can be very little denial, but it also gives us a clearer perspective of what happened because kids often remember their part but don't have an overall perspective," said Thomas Carr College deputy principal Vera Tre…

More US adults are making fitness a habit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The percentage of adults reporting regular exercise or physical activity jumped nearly 9% from 2001 to 2005, the CDC says. The findings come from telephone surveys of more than 205,000 adults in 2001 and more than 356,000 adults in 2005. Participants answered questions about how often and how long they got moderate or vigorous physical activit…

A group of concerned parents met with state Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R-Ocean, Monmouth, Burlington, Mercer) in his office in Jackson on Nov. 21 to discuss the idea of making student recess mandatory in all New Jersey school districts.

During the meeting Malone presented the parents with a proposed bill that would establish a task force to examine the issue of school recess.

Malone asked the parents to review the bill he said he would propose in…

MINNEAPOLIS --
Maybe getting schoolchildren to eat healthy foods isn't a hopeless struggle. Bucking some common notions, a University of Minnesota study has found that school lunch sales don't decline when healthier meals are served, and that more nutritious lunches don't necessarily cost schools more to produce.

"The conventional wisdom that you can't serve healthier meals because kids won't eat them is false," said …

Peaceful Playgrounds research identified five problems consistently occuring on most elementary school playgrounds. Inconsistent game rules was one of those five problems.

"Children were playing by different game rules and this lead to arguments, frustration and sometimes physical confrontations," according the Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer, Peaceful Playgrounds President. Further, we found that rarely were children taught either the rules…

The California School Boards Association and several districts have sued the state for nearly $1 billion, saying the state's deferral of payments for 38 mandatory programs violates the state of California's constitution. The lawsuit claims that districts are forced to divert limited educational funding to support state-mandated programs such as student health screenings and attendance-figure reporting.

Physical education and health educa…

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) has a
wonderful new tool for physical education teacher evaluation. All teachers benefit from meaningful, ongoing assessment and evaluation. The NASPE-developed Physical Education Teacher Evaluation Tool identifies the knowledge, skills, and behaviors needed to provide sound instruction in the K-12 physical education classroom. Its purpose is to assist principals, school district c…

Los Angeles COUNTY: Overweight kids more likely to be found in poorer cities with less park space.

By Melissa Evans, Staff Writer, Long Beach Press Telegram

Never has the link between poverty and child obesity been more apparent.

A new report from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health shows that the richest cities with the most public open space have the lowest rates of obese children. By contrast, cities with larger low-income populat…

LONDON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- A new heathcare bill in England authorizes the distribution of letters detailing children's height and weight as part of the fight against childhood obesity.

Parents of children ages 5-10 will receive letters outlining their child's height and weight to be input into an online "fat check" in an effort to determine the onset of obesity, The Telegraph said Saturday.

The new program is part of the Health and…

I stumbled on the following utube video entitled, "Hero in the Hallway." Check it out.

Physical education should be compulsory in school and children should have at least three physical education lessons a week, says an own-initiative report adopted by MEPs with 590 votes in favor 56 against and 21 abstentions. The number of children who are overweight or obese is growing by an estimated 400,000 per year, yet, according to a study for the Culture Committee, the average time that primary schools allocate to physical education has f…

The Game On! The Ultimate Wellness Challenge Toolkit was developed by Action for Healthy Kids, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and with input from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Education and other leading health and education organizations.

This turn-key guide for hosting a local Game On! The Ultimate Wellness Challenge event includes all necessary information to prepare, publicize, and carry-out a …

Published on Tuesday, Nov 13, 2007
Ohio.com

Sniffling and sneezing? Coughing and feverish? When are a child's symptoms severe enough to stay home from school? The rule of thumb, according to Medina General Hospital's School Health Services, is to keep children home if they are experiencing any of these symptoms: fever over 100 degrees, vomiting, diarrhea, frequent cough, persistent pain (earache, stomachache, etc.) or widespread rash.

If th…

Nike, Inc. -- Physical Activity Grants for Youth Nike, Inc. supports programs that increase and promote physical activity and seeks to: 1) get youth more physically active; 2) get youth involved in the teamwork of sports; and 3) have real, positive and measurable impact. Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status in communities where Nike has a significant employee or business presence. Rolling deadline. Contact …

Obesity has dominated media headlines over the past few years as the
nation has begun to recognize it is a serious health crisis.

"F as Fat", a new document released by the Trust for America's Health points out how obesity policies are failing in America. The 118 page reports covers such topics as

1. Obesity Rates and Related Trends

2. Obesity and State Policy: A review of legislation and initiatives;

3. Obesity and Federal Polic…

Boston - More sleep can reduce a child’s risk of becoming obese, according to a new study from the University of Michigan.

Researchers found that for every additional hour of sleep for a night for a third-grader, the risk of obesity is reduced by 40 percent by 6th grade.

“Many children aren’t getting enough sleep, and that lack of sleep may not only be making them moody or preventing them from being alert and ready to learn at school, it may also …

Given that physical activity not only keeps obesity at bay but generates a healthy and happy attitude, it’s surprising that more schools have not tried to harness the positive influence of physical activity within their educational program. Unfortunately, usually physical activity takes a back seat to other subjects regarded as more important.

Things have changed at home as well.

Prior to the digital age, children were forced to go out and play, u…

The British govt has decided to cure obesity with better designs – by roping in architects and town planners in its drive against the disease.

The proposal also calls for schools and employers to encourage “active travel”, by creating new walking and cycle routes, re-allocating parking places to cyclists and introducing more speed humps and other traffic calming measures.

The flab-fighting proposals drawn up by officials at the National Institute …

EnergyNow! is an alliance comprised of leading authorities in the physical education, nutrition and fitness technology fields who are committed to reversing today’s alarming childhood obesity epidemic. EnergyNow! is a results-based grant program that will enable schools to combat the alarming trend of obesity in our children. With an emphasis on building physical education and nutrition education programs that are doable, sustainable and effect…

The Tennessee Physical Activity Handbook is now available to download from the CSH website. The direct link to the handbook is:

http://tennessee.gov/education/schoolhealth/physed/doc/TNPhysActivHbook_10_07.pdf

Please check the website often for additional resources. Questions regarding this handbook may be sent to our Physical Education Specialist, Susan Brotherton at Susan.Brotherton@state.tn.us.

S 651 PLAY Every Day Act 2/15/07

To help promote the national recommendation of physical activity to kids, families, and communities across the United States. The Secretary of Education, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall provide grants to State health departments to enable the State health departments to work in partnership with eligible community-based coalitions to plan and implement model comm…

"Having students take their lunch recess before lunch has had some unintended, healthy consequences," according to Tulsa, Oklahoma principal Carolyn Moore.

"We switched recess to before lunch because I was seeing so many office referrals of students with stomachaches, but now they're hungrier and more ready to settle down and eat. They're not going to pitch that food out so fast because they want to go outside and play,&qu…

People who study bullying often focus on the bullies and the children they target. But now attention is turning to a long-neglected actor in this drama: the bystander. Empowering the bystander to speak up and act may be the key to stopping bullies, some experts say.

When children who see bullying speak up against it, seek help from an adult and offer support to the bullied child, they raise the overall emotional health of their school. And when c…

Daily exercise for three months can improve the brain function of overweight children, according to a new study of 200 overweight, inactive 7- to 11-year-olds that was presented this week at The Obesity Society's annual scientific meeting. "We hope these findings will help persuade policymakers, schools and communities that time spent being physically active enhances, rather than detracts from learning," said the study's lead i…

Nickelodeon has committed an additional $300,000 in awards to the Let's
Just Play Giveaway for October through December 2007. For more
information, visit www.nick.com/letsjustplay.

Let's Just Play Giveaway Sweepstakes is a unique grant-giving program
that empowers kids to partner with adults for a chance to win $5,000
awards to support fitness, recreation and nutrition programs at their
schools and community-based organization. Kids between …

The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) 2006 is the largest, most comprehensive assessment of school health programs in the United States ever conducted. SHPPS also was conducted in 2000 and 1994 and is planned again for 2012.

Tuesday's Topic-Recess
Wednesday's Topic- Nutrition in Schools
Thursday's Topic- Class Size PE


Friday's Topic-Physical Education
Moving in the right direction............
*69.3% of elementary school…

The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) 2006 is the largest, most comprehensive assessment of school health programs in the United States ever conducted. SHPPS also was conducted in 2000 and 1994 and is planned again for 2012.

Tuesday's Topic-Recess
Wednesday's Topic- Nutrition in Schools
Thursday's Topic- Class Size PE
Friday's Topic-Physical Education


CLASS SIZE IN Physical Education

*69.3% of elementary schools, 83.9% …

Each day this week I will review relevant information on the topics of recess, physical education, nutrition, and class size in PE as covered in the School Health Policies and Program Study research report released Friday, Oct. 19, 2007.

The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) 2006 is the largest, most comprehensive assessment of school health programs in the United States ever conducted. SHPPS also was conducted in 2000 and 1994 an…

Each day this week I will review relevant information on the topics of recess, physical education, nutrition, and class size in PE as covered in the School Health Policies and Program Study research report released Friday, Oct. 19, 2007.

The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) 2006 is the largest, most comprehensive assessment of school health programs in the United States ever conducted. SHPPS also was conducted in 2000 and 1994 an…

Students zooming to class on shoes with wheels aren’t a rarity in Red River Valley schools.

But “Heelys” – the must-have sneaker of the moment for many elementary-age students – are becoming a headache for school administrators.

Safety concerns posed by the fashionable foot apparel have prompted some school districts to put a foot down, developing policies about when children can use the wheels on the shoes.

Ellen Hopkins Elementary School in Moorh…

School cafeterias are serving more whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables, according to a nonprofit School Nutrition Association survey of 200 U.S. school districts. About 81% of the districts said they added healthier beverages in school vending machines and 74% reduced or limited trans fat. FoodNavigator

One of the most frequent questions that I field is: "What do you think of recess before lunch?" Below is yet another article citing the benefits.

By PENELOPE OVERTON | Courant Staff Writer
October 15, 2007


EAST HADDAM - It is early afternoon on a sunny weekday in October, and the nurses' office inside East Haddam Elementary School is nearly deserted. The three child-size cots are empty. No groaning students await comfort for ac…

By Darlene Pellechia
Thursday, October 4, 2007 Naples, Florida

Remember hop scotch, four-square and leap frog? These games of yesteryear are making a comeback on the playground at Osceola Elementary School thanks to a program called Peaceful Playgrounds, part of the school’s Positive Behavior Support Process.

According to Osceola Asst. Principal Tammie Stewart, the concept is to promote positive play and provide students with ways to intervene and/…

By KARIN SHAW ANDERSON / The Dallas Morning News
ksanderson@dallasnews.com

School recess isn't what it used to be. But it may be safer.

The playground games and equipment that many parents fondly remember are disappearing. Some schools have shortened recess in the name of academics and banned activities such as tag, Red Rover and king of the mountain as too dangerous.

Teeter-totters and merry-go-rounds are a thing of the past, too. School offici…

Thursday, October 11, 2007
By David Guo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

There are maybe 30 of them between the day's first class and second, 48 from the school driveway to the church's parking lot. A good-morning jackpot of 100 lies at the front door, one student reveals, for anyone who walks there from the school bus drop point.

Hmmm. Maybe those 48 steps to Mass every Wednesday should be worth a bonus, these students at SS Simon and Jude School …

By Cheri Carlson (Contact)
Friday, October 5, 2007
Ventura County Star Newspaper

Kaity Webster had a list of new rules to learn at her Camarillo school this year, but she didn't complain when she saw what she got in return.

The fifth-grader returned to University Preparation School to find the asphalt painted with tricycle tracks, maps, and alphabet and number games — and the equipment racks stocked full of new balls, jump ropes, bean bags and…

Do You Want To Be A Rock Star?


This weekend, Toronto will be a rockin' city, as the 2007 World Rock Paper Scissors Championships cut into town.

The game of Rock Paper Scissors has been settling scores on playgrounds since long before little brothers came into existence. In fact, some say it originates back to the year 200 BC in Japan, where it was referred to as "Jan-Ken." Others say it started as an early Scandinavian pastime, while…

Polly Curtis, education editor
Monday October 8, 2007
The Guardian

Boring playgrounds could be fuelling bullying in schools, a charity warns today after a survey suggested that many parents think their child's schools lacks green space. According to one in five parents polled, schools lack proper spaces for sports, and one in six children are bored at break times.

The poll of 1,100 parents paid for by the the charity Learning Through Landscapes …

Jefferson Elementary School has seen a 42 percent decrease in student misbehaviors since they started using the Peaceful Playground Program last year.

The program is designed to reduce conflicts during recess time.

"We're very happy with the reduction in misbehaviors," principal Barb Linke said. "It's also carried over into the classroom. That's what we wanted."



Students often say, "you can't say I can't…

The benefits of regular physical activity for our health and well-being are well documented. Over the past 50 years, however, our increased dependence on the automobile, coupled with the invention of many labor-saving devices, has caused physical activity to be engineered out of our lives. It is now possible to go through an entire day without walking more than a few minutes at a time. Suburban sprawl encourages more driving, more polluting and …

By RACHEL KYLER, Florida Freedom Newspapers
2007-10-01 08:47:00
Olly, olly, oxen free! Recess is hiding at many Okaloosa County schools. With a new state mandate for 150 minutes per week of physical education, schools such as Liza Jackson Preparatory School ended any unstructured play this year. School officials say they just don’t have the time.

Assistant Principal Julie Jenzen said lawmakers mean well in implementing the law, but students need a …

Kaiser Permanente today announced the launch of "The Incredible Adventures of the Amazing Food Detective" (AFD), a first of its kind, free, online video game in English and Spanish that teaches children to eat healthier foods, get more active and manage how they spend their time in front of the computer and television.

Based on a popular character from Kaiser Permanente's Educational Theatre Program, the Amazing Food Detective takes…

Written by: Lane Schurr is the president of the Northern District of IAHPERD and the 2003 Illinois Middle School Physical Educator of the Year.


The big screen, the smell of popcorn and the comfort of lounging back in a theater chair is all part of the fun of "going to the movies." Like any other red-blooded American, I enjoy a good thriller or an action-packed drama, a super sci-fi and even the occasional gut-splitting comedy on the sil…

By Michelle Jana Chan
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Pick me! Pick me! The weakest children may no longer be left out of playground games. New technology may help to put kids on a more level playing field, which may in turn motivate them to learn and encourage competitiveness. Using modern artificial intelligence and robotics, new playground games can recognize a child's behavior and respond accordingly -- in real-time -- to make the game harder or…

By Jane Clifford
UNION-TRIBUNE FAMILY EDITOR
September 29, 2007

OK, you've seen your child do some things, little things really, but nagging little things. Being just a little too aggressive with younger siblings, a little too snarky on the phone about classmates, a little too intimidating with the kids in the neighborhood.

Do you continue to ignore it or do you follow your instincts and acknowledge that your child is a bully, confront your chil…

School recess isn't just playtime; it's a golden opportunity to boost children's fitness, according to a new report.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation today released a report that puts school recess at the head of the class among opportunities to make students' school days more active.

But the report doesn't back a free-for-all melee on the playground. Instead, the Foundation says grown-ups need to get in the game, supervising…