LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Two new reports commissioned by The California Endowment document a crisis in California school physical education (PE) that is likely harming the health of students and identify the policies that are needed to correct the situation.

The policy brief Physical Education Matters summarizes existing information about the status of PE in California schools and identifies several research-based strategies for improving the quantity and quality of PE. Failing Fitness is a new study of PE in 77 California schools that documents students receive very little physical activity during most PE classes, and that the situation is particularly severe in elementary schools and schools in disadvantaged communities. The report also provides practices that must be incorporated into policy in order for school PE to become part of the solution to the childhood obesity epidemic.

"In order to help combat California's child obesity epidemic, we must make physical education a higher priority in California's schools," said Robert K. Ross, M.D., president and CEO of The California Endowment. "We strongly urge educators, parents, local officials and state policymakers to apply these reports' recommendations to address the deficiencies in physical education classes throughout the state."

Among the findings of the reports are:

• Higher levels of activity in PE are associated with better academic performance.
• Elementary schools are not providing the required number of minutes for PE.
• Most time during PE is spent being sedentary; on average, only four minutes of every half hour involve vigorous activity.
• PE personnel and equipment are inadequate to support quality PE in many schools, particularly those in less affluent communities.
• PE quantity and quality are particularly deficient for less affluent students and those in racial and ethnic groups at high risk of overweight or obesity.

"Particularly notable is that schools with the highest-quality, most active PE had higher achievement test scores," said James F. Sallis, Ph.D., director of the Active Living Research Program at San Diego State University and co-author of the Physical Education Matters policy brief. "This finding certainly dispels the myth that spending time in PE detracts from academic performance."

For school PE to become part of the solution to the childhood obesity epidemic, the reports provide recommendations to improve PE in California's schools. Among them are:

• Ensure PE minutes provided to each student meet or exceed state requirements by improved monitoring and enforcement.
• Monitor moderate-to-vigorous physical activity time during PE to ensure national minimum standards are met.
• Encourage the adoption and implementation of activity-focused PE curricula that are research-based or consistent with content standards.
• To ensure PE quality, PE should be taught by qualified instructors.
• Target funding for improving PE quantity and quality to schools serving low-income communities.
• Ensure PE class sizes are consistent with those of other subjects.
• Enhance the value of PE within the education community by including PE in school accountability measures, including PE grades in GPAs used by universities, and add PE as a core subject in the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

"It is clear from these studies that low-quality PE is contributing to health disparities. We must move quickly to adopt these practices in schools serving low-income students who are at greatest risk for obesity," said Antoinette Yancey, M.D., M.P.H., co-director of the UCLA School of Public Health's Center to Eliminate Health Disparities and co-author of Failing Fitness.

Physical Education Matters was prepared by a team at San Diego State University and the Active Living Research Program, UCLA School of Public Health Center to Eliminate Health Disparities, and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy.

Failing Fitness was prepared by researchers at the UCLA School of Public Health's Center to Eliminate Health Disparities, Oakland-based Samuels & Associates, and the Active Living Research Program at San Diego State University.

You can access both reports by clicking on the following link: http://www.calendow.org/program_areas/physicaleducation.stm

The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, was established in 1996 to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. The Endowment makes grants to organizations and institutions that directly benefit the health and well-being of the people of California. To date, The Endowment has awarded more than 8,600 grants across California totaling approximately $1.6 billion. For more information, visit The Endowment's Web site at www.calendow.org.

The California Endowment
Jeff Okey, 213-928-8622
jokey@calendow.org