The Indispensable Role of Physical Education: Benefits for a Lifetime

Physical activity is a vital component in the development of a person’s life. From adolescence to adulthood, moving our bodies throughout the day can have positive effects on our sleep quality, memory, bone health, and more. Classrooms are not only a space to teach valuable skills, but to inspire healthy habits for a lifetime. While some may consider gym class a second-rate period for kids to blow off steam and fill some time in the school day, the benefits are quite intriguing.

Academic Performance and Cognitive Function

Physical activity can improve concentration, problem-solving, memory, and school attendance, which correlates with better grades and test scores in school. Earlier research indicates that physical education (PE) in school is associated with positive outcomes (e.g., healthy lifestyle, psychological well-being, and academic performance). In addition, Tassitano and colleagues [5] observed a positive association between enrollment in PE sessions and several health-related behaviors including physical activity and fruit consumption. In many schools, students’ efforts in PE are captured in the grade they receive on the subject. Thus, higher grades in PE would indicate greater efforts and achievement in the physical activities engaged in, which in turn can lead to the promotion of outcomes related to health and development as indicated in earlier studies [1,2,3].

Frequent bouts of physical activity throughout the day yield short-term benefits for mental and cognitive health while also providing opportunities to practice skills and building confidence that promotes ongoing engagement in physical activity.

Activities to Boost Academic Engagement

Ball tossing: With this activity, students can sit or stand in a circle while they take turns asking and answering questions, spelling, or learning new words.
Creative workstations or scavenger hunts: A simple yet interactive way to get students out of their seats. Hand out activity sheets and set up information-based workstations that lead them to each area around the class or school to find the answer.
Answer relays: While quizzing groups of students on previously learned information, break them into groups to see who can race the fastest to the front of the class and write the answer. Or have them write the answer on paper or a small whiteboard before they pass the item with the written answer up to the front of the class in a row.
Trashcan basketball or soccer: This is a great activity for healthy competition! Students can be broken up into singles, pairs, or larger teams while they answer fact-based questions to score points. Whether you try this out with a basketball hoop or just a trash can and a crumbled-up piece of construction paper-students are bound to have fun while moving their bodies.
Mindful exercises: In between lessons or at the end of a school day, promote stretch breaks.

Physical Health and Well-being

Physical health is the most obvious benefit of physical education. An article published in the Journal of Preventative Medicine and Hygiene titled “Physical Activity for Health” states that regular physical activity strengthens the body’s functions and reduces the risk of various diseases. It improves quality of life and the way your body feels. P.E. classes teach students to be active and help them adopt healthy activity habits.

Physical activity builds strong muscles, bones, and joints. It also improves cardiovascular health, which positively impacts blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Regular physical activity promotes growth and development and has multiple benefits for physical, mental, and psychosocial health that undoubtedly contribute to learning. Specifically, physical activity reduces the risk for heart disease, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, obesity, and metabolic syndrome; improves various other aspects of health and fitness, including aerobic capacity, muscle and bone strength, flexibility, insulin sensitivity, and lipid profiles; and reduces stress, anxiety, and depression.

Read also: Importance of Education for Health

Exercise Guidelines

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends these exercise guidelines:

Aerobic activity: Get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity. Or get at least 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week. You also can get an equal combination of moderate and vigorous activity. Aim to spread out this exercise over a few days or more in a week. For even more health benefits, the guidelines suggest getting 300 minutes a week or more of moderate aerobic activity. Exercising this much may help with weight loss or keeping off lost weight. But even small amounts of physical activity can be helpful. Being active for short periods of time during the day can add up and have health benefits.
Strength training: Do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week. One set of each exercise is enough for health and fitness benefits. Use a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions.

Moderate aerobic exercise includes activities such as brisk walking, biking, swimming and mowing the lawn. Vigorous aerobic exercise includes activities such as running, swimming laps, heavy yardwork and aerobic dancing. You can do strength training by using weight machines or free weights, your own body weight, heavy bags, or resistance bands. You also can use resistance paddles in the water or do activities such as rock climbing.

Mental and Emotional Well-being

Physical activity releases endorphins, the brain’s feel-good chemicals while reducing the stress hormones, such as cortisol. In an era when students are struggling with mental health at an alarming rate, physical education classes can certainly help combat this major issue. Exercise also has other benefits to promote mental health, such as reduced stress, improved mood, better self-esteem, and increased mental alertness.

Physical activity can improve mental health by decreasing and preventing conditions such as anxiety and depression, as well as improving mood and other aspects of well-being. School education should not only be about intellectual learning, but it should also teach people about their own bodies and how to treat them. P.E. is a hands-on method of education that impacts the personal well-being of students more than other school subjects.

Social Development and Communication Skills

Physical activity can further interpersonal connections through sports, group activities, and teamwork. In a P.E. classroom setting, some students have goals for improving social standing. Because student-to-student interactions are higher in a P.E. class than in the typical classroom, there are unique opportunities for interacting with peers. Being a part of a team is something that almost everyone will someday have to experience. They can develop their social skills with classmates.

Read also: Strategies for Lifelong Learning

Physical activity programming specifically designed to do so can improve psychosocial outcomes such as self-concept, social behaviors, goal orientation, and most notably self-efficacy.

Self-Esteem, Belonging, and Confidence

Physical activity provides room for achievement and athletic improvement. P.E. encourages students who are goal-oriented - whether they are athletically inclined or not - to participate. When P.E. caters to internal motivation, it becomes enjoyable for students. P.E plays a very important role in students’ health. It forces students to be physically active in their adolescent years, which can greatly impact the rest of their lives.

Being physically active and working toward goals or benchmarks, particularly on a team, can create confidence as well. Furthermore, the social aspects of the physical activities are intended to create an arena where students can exercise fair play and respect for each other [9,10]. All these effects are positive outcomes that tend to signify several components of what has been referred to as the 5Cs of PYD (competence, confidence, character, caring, and connection) [11] and the ability to develop healthy behaviors, thus supporting health as defined by the World Health Organization.

Physical Education vs. Physical Activity

With heightened attention on childhood obesity prevention efforts, there seems to be some confusion between the terms "physical education" and "physical activity." Often the words are used interchangeably but they differ in important ways. Understanding the difference between the two is critical to understanding why both contribute to the development of healthy, active children.

School physical education programs offer the best opportunity to provide physical activity to all children and to teach them the skills and knowledge needed to establish and sustain an active lifestyle. Physical education teachers assess student knowledge, motor and social skills, and provide instruction in a safe, supportive environment. SHAPE America recommends that schools provide 150 minutes of instructional physical education for elementary school children, and 225 minutes for middle and high school students per week for the entire school year. Every student is required to take daily physical education in grades K-12, with instruction periods totaling 150 minutes/week in elementary and 225 minutes/week in middle and high school.

Read also: Why Inclusive Education Matters

Physical activity is bodily movement of any type and may include recreational, fitness and sport activities such as jumping rope, playing soccer, lifting weights, as well as daily activities such as walking to the store, taking the stairs or raking the leaves. Similar health benefits to those received during a physical education class are possible during physical activity bouts when the participant is active at an intensity that increases heart rate and produces heavier than normal breathing.

Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP)

A Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) is a multi-component approach by which school districts and schools provide multiple opportunities to accumulate 60 minutes of physical activity before, during and after the school day. Physical education is the foundation of the CSPAP model and ensures an opportunity for physical activity for every student in school. Additional opportunities for physical activity throughout the school day include classroom-based movement, recess, intramural sports and various before and after school activities.

The Importance of Early Intervention

Health-related behaviors and disease risk factors track from childhood to adulthood, indicating that early and ongoing opportunities for physical activity are needed for maximum health benefit. To be effective, physical activity programming must align with the predictable developmental changes in children's exercise capacity and motor skills, which affect the activities in which they can successfully engage.

It is critical that adolescents be offered appropriate physical activity programs that take into account the physical and sociocultural changes they are experiencing so they will be inspired to engage in physical activity for a lifetime.

The Global Decline of Physical Education

However, there are trends around the world which are disturbing. UNESCO states, "physical education is in decline across all world regions". In the USA, the average school budget for PE is $764 per year.

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