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Posted on Tue, Apr. 05, 2005
Child fitness an idle issue
P.E. measures going nowhere in Legislature
By Diane Hirth
DEMOCRAT CAPITOL BUREAU
Like a dieter gobbling chocolate cake, Florida isn't acting too serious about better physical fitness for school students.
Legislation introduced this year would give parents a report card on their children's fitness and compel school districts to have a wellness policy. A wellness policy adopted by Leon County schools in March cut back on sugary food and drink in school vending machines and is considered a model program.
But even this soft approach, which shies away from ordering more physical-education classes where children break a sweat, is going nowhere this session. At least so far.
It's an interesting state of affairs given Gov. Jeb Bush's 2003 declaration of an obesity epidemic among youth and adults and his appointment then of an obesity task force. There's been a parade of warnings about more American children being overweight and inactive and developing diabetes at a younger age.
"It's just baby steps to find out where the problems are," said Rep. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, defending her bill (HB 1113) to guarantee children's fitness is measured twice a year. The goal is to help parents and schools track how fit or fat their students' bodies are.
Education Commissioner John Winn says his agency can accomplish much just by providing P.E. training opportunities and P.E. best practices to local school districts. He noted the Legislature last year required districts to have written P.E. policies. But he said he's willing to work with lawmakers on this issue.
"I'm a huge proponent of physical education. I'm a runner myself," said Winn, a close aide to Bush before being appointed commissioner last year. "Before we become very heavy-handed and pass a mandate on to school districts to incur greater expenses, I'm just expressing caution."
Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, confirmed she has no plans to consider such a bill. On the House side, Sobel has been struggling to get her bill considered in House PreK-12 Committee, where it's scheduled for a hearing today.
There is another P.E. bill moving forward that requires only a coordinator for physical education in all school districts. Winn says that goes too far.
"I'm afraid if the state starts telling districts what positions they need, there is no end to it. ... We believe in giving districts flexibility in exchange for accountability," Winn said.
The dodging of a crackdown on chubby children was evident in a report on physical education just released by the Florida Department of Education. The report ordered by last year's Legislature doesn't require anything; instead it says that school boards "should" do a number of things - including assess students' participation in P.E. and determine whether that reflects the communities' needs.
The report does disclose how spotty data are on physical education in Florida. Only 62 of 67 districts submitted their policies, and only about half of those included details on length and frequency of P.E. classes. The report acknowledged that discrepancies exist in the reported time students spent in P.E. classes, and that more study is necessary. Some districts submitted purely general information such as "students shall be regularly enrolled in physical education as scheduled."
Winn said the Department of Education does need to do a better job of collecting student-fitness data.
And while many districts report doing physical-fitness assessments of students, only 10 percent send the information home to parents, according to the report. Leon is one that does.
This school year, Leon for the first time assessed elementary- and middle-school students' body-mass index, or BMI, which measures risk of being overweight; the district sent "very delicately worded" letters home to parents, said Ruth Hobbs, intervention-services director in Leon schools. In the letters were suggested resources on children's health and fitness.
"Now we have some baseline data," said Hobbs, who said it will be used to see whether the wellness policy is working.
"We need to keep moving this issue forward. We do have an obesity problem. Children need activity," said Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, who introduced the Senate version of Sobel's bill. "P.E. is important."
The consequences of inactivity are witnessed by Kim Rohrbacher, nursing coordinator for Tallahassee Memorial Hospital's diabetes center.
"We're seeing so many more children with what used to be thought of as an adult type of diabetes," she said.
While it's critical for parents to model and encourage good eating and exercise, Rohrbacher said some school trends unfortunately help undermine children's health.
"P.E. has been decreased or cut out all together, recesses shortened or not at all and an abundance of convenience and fast foods in schools," Rohrbacher said.
The report by the Department of Education notes that the concentration on improving academics, including Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores, has taken time and teachers away from P.E. instruction.
In Florida, one year of high-school P.E. is all that's required.
Sen. Gwen Margolis, D-Bay Harbor Island, tried a year ago to require 30 minutes a day of P.E. classes for all students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Her bill called for fitness testing in certain grades, and high-school students taking two years of P.E. to graduate. None of those changes passed.
"The problem with that seems to be 'don't tell local school boards what to do,'" said Margolis, who slimmed down her proposal this year to the P.E. coordinator requirement.
Lamenting lack of interest in children exercising their bodies, not just their brains, Sobel said, "It's just not a priority with the leadership, and that's a shame in a state looking at Medicaid (health care) reform, which involves billions of dollars. We could help. It begins with prevention."
Bush's press secretary Jacob DiPietre agreed.
"Overweight and obesity cause tremendous increases in health-care costs, including Medicaid spending," he said. "These are issues that are obviously important. We look forward to working with the Legislature on meaningful reforms."
FROM STATE'S PHYSICAL EDUCATION REPORT> >
Students sweating in P.E. classes 2004-05:
49 percent in grades K-5
51 percent in grades 6-8
34 percent in grades 9-12
Fewer certified P.E. teachers over past three years:
69 percent in K-5, down from 75 percent
83 percent in 6-8, down from 94 percent
79 percent in 9-12, down from 89 percent
Source: Florida Department of Education, see report at http://www.fldoe.org/
PHYSICAL EDUCATION BILLS
What's next: HB 1113 by Rep. Eleanor Sobel requiring fitness assessments of students twice a year and results shared with schools and parents, as well as publicized wellness policies in all school districts, up today before House PreK-12 Committee. Senate companion, SB 2388, by Sen. Lee Constantine, yet to be placed on the agenda.
SB 126 by Sen. Gwen Margolis requires physical education coordinator in all school districts (also requires performing arts program/coordinator in all districts), passed Senate Education Committee.
Contact Senior Writer Diane Hirth at (850) 671-6546 or dhirth@tallahassee.com.
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