Shocking statistics of the decline in kids' health and activity!

Check out these shocking statistics from http://www.fitnessforyouth.edu/:

• The average child gets less than 15 minutes of vigorous activity a day.


• The average U.S. child gets approximately 43 minutes of moderate physical activity a day.


• The average U.S. child spends 20% of his/her waking time watching TV.


• Obesity and superobesity are up 36% and 98%, respectively, in the past 20 years.


• The average child consumes at least 20 ounces of soda pop a day.


• Thirty-six percent of the children get daily physical education; 36% get two or fewer days.


• Nine out of ten parents think their children are fit, when only one out of three are.


• Thirty percent of youths (10-19 years) have negative or neutral attitudes towards physical activity.


• In a typical physical education class, only 27% of actual physical education time is devoted to motor activity.


• The average heart rates in a typical 30-minute physical education class range between 90 and 129 beats per minute.


• The older girls get, the less likely they are to work out.Grade school students are 24% more active than high schoolers.


• Children exercise less as they get older, boys about 3% less each year; girls, 7.5%.


• The two biggest reasons kids participate in sport and exercise are fun and socialization.


• Thirty-six percent of middle school students say that they think that kids who exercise do better in school, about one-third are not sure, and 28% disagree.


• About 50% of all students report that physical education class time should be increased in the middle school.


Do any of these statistics surprise you? We all know PE is on the decline and obesity rates are on the incline. What are you doing to help the cause? Many times all it takes to start a movement is one person. Just like the "go green" environmental slogan asks - what's your one thing? Me? I work for a nonprofit organization devoted to improving the quality of physical education around the entire country. :) What's your one thing?

Patrick White, a junior at TC Howe Academy, describes the positive impact the PE4life program has had on his health, fitness, and life.

Worthington City School District uses PE4life as a Resource Parnter

Check out this article spotlighting Worthington City School District's new physical education program that focuses on helping students learn a lifetime of fitness techniques.

They used PE4life and other resources to get this program rolling!

http://www.columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2009/10/13/multiple_papers/schools/allwope%2010_20091013_0525pm_3.txt

2009 Resource Conference was a Success!

We've spent many months tirelessly planning for this event, so of course it's incredibly rewarding to see it go off without a hitch! There were more than 150 school and community leaders and 30 plus vendors in attendance, which is new record for us. Julie Foudy joined us on Sunday evening at the PEP Rally Dinner and gave an awesome presentation about leadership and teamwork. We had breakout session topics on everything from designing your PE program with very little money to how to get your administrators' support, plus vendors showing off the newest, most innovative exercise equipment on the market! It truly was a great couple of days!



Although it would be nice to take a moment to relax, there's just no time! We're already busy planning next year's event to ensure it's even bigger and better. We're probably one of the few organizations that take the feedback we receive from the conference and directly apply it to the next year's conference. So thanks to all who filled out their evaluations (even if we did have to bribe you with super cool event t-shirts :)).


We hope you learned as much from us at this conference as we did you! Let us know – what’s the one thing you’re taking from the conference and implementing into your school or community? My biggest revelation… wear your comfy sneakers on event day!


Melanie Sheppard
Marketing Assistant, PE4life