Study Urges Physical Education Should Be A “Core” Subject

The Washington Post (5/26, Strauss) reports in its blog “The Answer Sheet” on the Institute of Medicine’s new report that recommends the US Department of Education “designate physical education as a core subject, just like math and English, to help confront a ‘pandemic’ of physical inactivity that has contributed to a critical national health challenge.” The blog recaps all of the report’s recommendations, which include prescriptions for government agencies.

NYTimes Says Report Shows Importance Of Physical Education To Academics.The New York Times (5/25, Subscription Publication) says in an editorial that “a sensible new report from the Institute of Medicine, a unit of the National Academy of Sciences” shows the benefits of being physically active for students, and argues that as a result “physical activity should be a core educational concern, not a dispensable option” in US schools. It laments that many schools “have cut physical education and recess periods to leave more time for sedentary classroom instruction.”