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Testimony from Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum
Assembly Hearing on Compliance with Required Physical Education Classes
January 31, 2008
Thank you, Assemblymember Nolan, for holding this important hearing.
Too little physical education is not just unhealthy for kids; it’s actually illegal. Many NYC public schools are in violation of New York State regulations that mandate that students in grades K-3 have daily physical education, while students in grades 4-6 must have a minimum of three gym classes a week, or 120 minutes per week.
Physical activity has an impact on the overall health and well-being of children and affects their educational experience. Kids need to be active, it’s that simple. And, for many children in our sedentary culture, physical education at school may be their only opportunity for physical activity during the day and their only preparation for an active lifestyle. Regular physical activity for children has significant health and wellness benefits, and has been associated with increased academic performance, and improving self-esteem and mental health.
In light of the city’s alarming obesity rates and state physical education mandates, my office conducted a survey in 2004 of 100 randomly selected public elementary schools to determine student access to physical education programs.
This 2004 survey found that:
-20.6 percent of the public elementary schools surveyed lacked regular access to physical education classes
-All elementary schools surveyed were in violation of the New York State regulations requiring daily physical education for students in third grade
-79.3 percent of the schools with students in grades four were in violation of New York State regulations mandating at least 120 minutes of physical education for those students
-Only four percent of all schools surveyed had an athletic team
Based on the survey results, we issued a report, titled “All Work and No Play,” which recommended that the city take needed steps to comply with New York State law by offering more physical education classes per week, providing proper athletic facilities to promote a healthy school population, developing an effective physical education curriculum, and recruiting qualified physical education teachers.
We are currently working on an update to the 2004 report, and the preliminary results show that that there is improvement in overall access to physical education for 3rd grade and in the number of teams/sports programs. However, based on our random sample of 100 elementary schools (20 in each borough), the vast majority of elementary schools is still in violation of the state physical education mandates. The situation in 4th grade seems to be slightly worse than it was in 2004.
-Two percent of the public elementary schools surveyed lack regular access to physical education classes (that is, not all students are able to participate or the schools rotate physical education classes on a semester basis)
-95.7 percent of elementary schools surveyed are in violation of the New York State regulations requiring daily physical education for students in third grade
-88.2 percent of elementary schools surveyed are in violation of New York State regulations mandating at least 120 minutes of physical education for students in fourth grade
-19 percent of elementary schools surveyed have an athletic team
Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally, with more than 1 billion adults overweight - at least 300 million of them clinically obese - and is a major contributor to the global burden of chronic disease and disability.
In 2004, the Institute of Medicine reported that in the last 30 years childhood obesity has doubled in children 2-5 and adolescents 12-19 and tripled in children 6-11.
A 2004 study of 3,069 NYC public elementary school students, published by the American Journal of Public Health, revealed that 43 percent of students were overweight and more than half of these students were obese.
A CDC analysis of the 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey concerning New York students cited as causes for the rising numbers of overweight students unhealthy dietary behaviors as well as physical inactivity. The report stated that, among other factors, 70 percent of students don’t meet recommended levels of physical activity, and that 83 percent don’t attend daily physical education classes.
With 43 percent of New York City students overweight or obese, it is unacceptable that more resources are not put toward their physical education. We must work together to help implement better physical activity programs in our schools and ensure that all schools comply with state-mandated measures for physical education.
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