Tagged in: Move Live Learn Blog, Physical and Health Education

PE or Nutrition? Both.

Join the discussion on fighting childhood obesity with tools that are the best of both worlds

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Uh oh. When I’m losing sleep over a “pebble in my shoe” I feel it’s something worth blogging about. I sent a Tweet today about this “pebble” and it generated a lot of discussion. Hence, I thought I would explain my thoughts even more in hopes that someone (somewhere?) might read it and take action (a girl can dream). Here we go now…

I feel like, as physical education specialists, we spend way too much energy advocating our programs. Energy that could be placed on planning, assessing to increase motivation and increase student understanding, or serving our school communities. While I will agree that it’s 100% necessary to advocate, I feel like (by times) we find ourselves barking up the wrong tree.

First let’s talk about why we feel as though we are in panic mode when it comes to advocacy. If we are completely honest (which I always advocate) we fear quality PE programs will be cut from schools. I hear ya. I fear this too. I agree with you that this would be a huge mistake. Quality physical education based on a solid foundation (curriculum) aimed to foster physical literacy is absolutely necessary for students in our schools. Not only do students learn skills in order to feel competent physically in quality physical education programs, they understand when and how to apply these skills and are motivated to do so in order to receive health benefit. Not bad, eh? So, In other words, I get it. I get that we need to advocate for our programs and I don’t suggest we stop doing so.

What are we advocating for?
I feel like our major goal in advocating for quality physical education in schools is to help “fight” childhood obesity. I think this has evolved because we “grabbed” on to the obesity rates while literacy and numeracy scores were down. We (as professionals) realized that decision makers would have no problem cutting physical education (after all, many didn’t enjoy traditional programs and I can’t blame them). While our advocacy work has been very noble (and, I should add, includes a stance I took for many years and in many situations) I feel that physical education’s ability to “fight” obesity is an untrue reality. I do not think that quality physical education can adequately fight obesity. (There. I said it.) But, before you go all “Amanda, I hope you wipe out big time the next time you are in a run” on me - please, let me explain.

  • Quality physical education is critical in helping students to grow as physically literate individuals. This means students will have skills to move, understand the importance of moving, and be motivated to do so for health benefit (well, that’s the “cliff notes” version divided by 5). Isn’t this enough? Obesity is not good for our health care system (or should I say our health “fix” system). Not one little bit. However, aside from the obesity conversation, quality physical education is absolutely important enough to remain in schools. Think about it?  If you are reading this post you likely love physical activity. In fact, if you are to share what brings you the most joy - it probably includes a list similar to mine: activities with my kids, snowboarding, mountain biking, yoga, running, triathlon, etc. Do you see what I am saying? We want all kids to grow and experience health benefits through physical activity - but PE alone doesn’t fight obesity.
  • Quality physical education (when offered at a frequency, duration, and intensity that is adequate) can provide students with major health benefits. But, I’m not focusing on adipose tissue (i.e., fat) management. I’m talking about mental resiliency. I’m talking about stress reduction. I’m talking about decreased symptoms of depression. I’m talking major health benefit that is gained from physical activity at moderate to vigorous intensities for more than 30 minutes a day for more than four days a week. Now, let be clear. I believe in my heart that the reality of physical activity being offered at a frequency, duration, and intensity for health benefit - it must be taught by trained physical education specialists. My own research suggests that while classroom teachers are amazing (and, many are) most have absolutely no idea how to provide an environment that not only helps students meet these health benefits, but that is also warm, differentiated, enjoyable, etc. It’s not that they don’t rock. It’s that they have not be educated on how to do so. Just like I have not been educated on how to setup differentiated math learning centers in a Grade 4 classroom. I get that they are critical to a student’s development - I just haven’t been educated. Doesn’t make me a bad teacher or a bad person - but why would you put me in that environment if you want what’s best for kids? ... Moving on.
  • Quality physical education typically teaches to all learning domains (psychomotor, affective, cognitive) yet the cognitive content is usually reserved for topics related to learning skills, motivation to perform them, understanding of why they are important, how to set/assess/modify goals related to physical fitness, etc. These are only a few things that a quality physical education program touches on. (For more information on a quality physical education program, check this out.) What is missing?...Well, this brings me to my biggest point. Quality physical education does not teach about nutrition - and some schools don’t even teach nutrition. This leads me to the tweet that sparked some excitement today.

“What faculty of #eduction will be the smartest & offer joint #PhysEd & #Nutrition degrees 1st? What district will dev curriculum w/ both?”

and then this one…

“Be active + eat clean = live life to fullest potential. #Curriculum should foster students’ literacy in both. Let me help! #edchat.”

and then there was this one (I was on fire...)...

“Too much talk in #PhysEd is related to obesity & too little is on mental resiliency. Mental health is in crisis mode in NorthAmerica.”

A Call for Action
Society has changed a great deal in recent decades. When physical education was first taught in schools, students typically ate dinner with their families. At this time in history, there was a good chance the families grew the food that was on the table. Ah yes! Before the days of pizza pockets and frozen dinners. While curriculum in physical education has evolved (thank goodness) it, in my humble opinion needs to be revamped. Totally...and, now.

What might I suggest?
Well, here are a few ideas that have been on my mind in recent years (I know, I need to get out more). Do know that these have not been completely thought out. I just want to get the conversation started in case some brave Faculty of Education Dean or some brave Physical Education Department Head or Curriculum Coordinator might take a giant leap...if she/he does so - please call me. I’d love to be a part of it.

  • PETE Programs. I think PETE programs should begin offering a joint major: Bachelor of Science in Physical Education & Human Nutrition. Man, I’d like to add that diploma to the display in my basement. Both education and nutrition are evolving sciences. Students who major in both areas care deeply about the health of society. If physical education majors today were also educated on post-modern nutrition, just think of the future of physical education/nutrition courses in our school systems in years to come. In doing so, educators would be prepared to teach a cutting edge curriculum (yet to be developed) focused on both physical literacy and nutrition literacy. Even cooler, these same educators could take leadership roles on promoting Health Promoting Schools all over. Winning! I took a nutrition course as part of my physical education major from a very respected program. I can’t tell you a thing that I learned.
  • School Districts. School districts/Independent Schools would revamp current curriculum. 21st century curriculum in physical education could be combined with 21st century curriculum in nutrition. Information would be age and developmentally appropriate and the nutrition information would be woven within the quality PE curriculum. This is key. Why? Well, I’m not suggesting that we sit kids down in PE. I’m not saying that they go to a classroom for a few weeks to “talk about nutrition”. Heck no - that is NOT what I’m suggesting. I’m suggesting that we prepare our pre-service teachers (and in-service our current PE teachers who need the professional development) on how to teach nutrition information within a cutting edge curriculum in a manner that does not (I repeat, does not) cut down on physical activity. How does this happen? That’s another blog. I promise, I’ll write it. But, I can teach that way. I love to teach that way. Students enjoy classes more this way. What does it require? It requires planning, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. Ah yes - it would require me to apply skills necessary for a 21st century learner. Epic. Students are moving while learning not only about the current topics in PE curriculum but also about nutrition content. We can’t talk about living life to the fullest without combining nutrition and physical activity. So, why do we do so in schools? It’s the same logic that has PETE programs teaching a lesson plan without considering assessment until a later semester. It’s becomes viewed as an add on. It becomes viewed as impossible. (News alert: No such thing as impossible in Amanadaville).

I believe this idea will work. So much so that after 11 years of higher education, I am currently enrolled in a nutrition school to become a certified nutrition/health coach. This doesn’t mean I’ll be a Registered Dietician. Nor does it suggest that I would ever wrongly advertise myself or my abilities as such. But, it illustrates how strongly I believe that without adequate nutrition education, our students’ fight against obesity will never be won. We can do better than this. No matter how much people detest change, we HAVE to do better than this.

To be clear, I’m not saying other areas of health aren’t important. The purpose of this post was to address the “fight obesity” epidemic that we (as PE professionals) have been advocating in order to keep our place in schools. I think that that has always been too narrow of an advocacy approach - especially considering all the additional benefits we get from physical activity in a quality PE setting (social and personal responsibility, life skill application, collaboration/teamwork, FUN!!!!, etc.). I’m not sure that we can offer a full health education and physical education in a logical way that’s doable considering how broad health is. Not that it can’t be done, it’s just rationale for why the topic of this post was specific to the obesity conversation.

I believe that if we keep teaching in our separate bubbles we will continue to miss our opportunity to educate our students on their health. Quality physical education is important enough without nutrition to earn it’s place in schools. Just as nutrition education is important enough without quality PE to be taught in our schools. Personally, I know that I would not be the capable and upbeat person that I am without a committed physically active lifestyle and a clean (not obsessively so) diet (diet - in the true sense of the word). Moreover, I know that I would not handle stress as well as I do, be as efficient as I am, nor brush things off the way I do if I wasn’t as physically active as I am. Don’t you dare get me wrong. I’m a work in progress. I’m far from perfect (perfect sounds so boring I’m not even striving for it). But, what I am striving for is a logical educational experience for those kids in this country who need it the most. To me, these are often those who are marginalized and have higher rates of obesity. If we want to get serious about our claim that we can help “fight obesity” than let’s be honest and acknowledge that without proper nutrition - it ain’t going to happen.

So, who’s in? Let’s do this!

  • Jo Bailey

    I agree with what you have written 100%. I cannot fathom why we continue to treat physical education and nutrition education (and health for that matter) as separate entities that you may or may not receive adequate education in, depending on your state requirements. In WI we have nutrition standards, yet nowhere where these standards are designated to be taught. PE, health, and nutrition are naturally integrated and all affect each other – by trying to treat them as separate and discrete subject areas we do our students a disservice. I have spent the last few years trying to infuse active and hands-on nutrition education into my physical education program for that reason and it’s working. The idea you have for a degree in PE and human nutrition is long overdue. No amount of physical education will out-do poor nutrition habits and we are fooling ourselves if we think it will. You can certainly count me in in this fight – it’s too important not to take a stand.

    • astanec

      Thanks for your time, Jo! I agree that we do the students a disservice. I also hate how it tends to become a “we” versus “them” in terms of time with students. If we could come together, set egos aside, and bring in the best teachers of both disciplines – wow!!! Can you imagine the curriculum we could develop and how it could be implemented? Moreover, can you imagine how much it would impact families to have children as advocates for healthy active living away from school? Perhaps Wisconsin is exactly the place to do this first seeing how they have standards for both?

  • I’m in. Sign me up.

    • astanec

      ALways love having you on my team, Shannon!

  • I agree that nutrition and PE should go together. Great idea about the joint major! When I first started advocating about prevention of childhood obesity, I was frustrated that so much of the focus was on physical activity and pushed to keep a focus on nutrition as well. Putting the focus on physical activity as the solution for childhood obesity seemed to put a lot of pressure on PE teachers to fix the students who have high BMIs. The research and my own experience told me this was not going to work. Even with adding the nutrition education piece, PE teachers wont be able to fix the problem of childhood obesity because even students having good knowledge is not enough. Adults control much of their food environment and it gets back to Ellyn Satters Division of Responsibility for Eating: The parent is responsible for what, when, where The child is responsible for how much and whetherI think combining nutrition and PE is a great idea but once again if were putting pressure on PE teachers to fix students with high BMIs it will not work unless the adults in the students environment change the what, when and where of eating. I think this reflects Dr. Freedhoffs approach with his new childhood obesity treatment program: I’ve always worried about the risks for children involved in weight management programs. I’ve worried about risks to their self esteem, body image and relationship with food and I’ve worried that they would feel, unfairly, as if their weight were their own faults. Consequently, Family Reset, an interdisciplinary year long program involving 6 months of unlimited access to registered dietitians, social workers, personal trainers and physicians, followed by 6 more months of careful follow-up with the same team, will be delivered exclusively to parents of children aged 13 and younger whose weights put them in the 85th percentile or higher. http://www.weightymatters.ca/2013/05/announcing-my-offices-new-childhood.html

    • astanec

      Dear Casey,Thank you so much for your comment! I agree that families control most of physical activity and nutrition. I would add, however, that kids are amazing self advocates. When I taught in Virginia, kids were demanding white milk be placed within their reach because the (more expensive) chocolate milk was all the little ones could reach. They would tell me about the choices they changed at home and parents would stop me after school and say thank you for encouraging them to be active as a family. I’m sure you would agree that parents really want what is best for their child – unfortunately many were not taught what is healthy (related to physical activity and nutrition) so they feeling a bit lost. I’m confident that by properly educating our students – we would in turn be educating a lot of their (well-intending & loving) parents.

      Warmly,

      Amanda

  • A #physed + #nutrition degree & curriculum – there’s an idea! Physical & Health Education is often reduced to simply Physical Education. Yes, we develop physical literacy and try to instill an active lifestyle for our students, but being able and willing to move will never counterbalance an unhealthy diet (as you stated, diet in the true sense of the word).As PHE teachers, we already scramble in trying to get the most out of our time with our students by maximizing individual participation and minimizing instruction time. Even with our limited time, we somehow find creative ways and incorporate elements of nutrition into our games, activities, and scenarios!

    …Imagine what we could do with that extra time block dedicated solely on nutrition?

    • astanec

      I do suspect if time was added on in the school day it wouldn’t be given to physical education / nutrition but literacy and numeracy. OF COURSE those subjects are critical, but I would call for an increased chunk of time for logical and sound interdisciplinary learning. Ahh…the possibilities! Thanks for your comment, Nicholas. It’s always great to hear your perspective.

  • Hi Amanda, though provoking blog as always. We do spend a lot of time justify ourself as physical educators and defending the right of our subject to an existence. It is not just obesity that is seen as a justification for PE, but also the international sporting standard of our national teams and players, and the social idea that PE gets kids ‘off the streets’. PE is valuable in itself and we need to celebrate that but we also need to work hard to change its image. Do we seek reasons for our existence because PE is seen so badly in the media? Perhaps we need to start fighting the epidemics and social ills of the world (as you suggest so eloquently) and start being the start of something good (rather than its end). Fighting this and that is not a great way of existing and we need to think about the great things we can do in our own right. Great piece and hope that it has an impact – somewhere at least.

    • astanec

      I think you’re on to something (as usual). It’s bad in the media because traditional programs (more often than not) were bad. But, the funny thing is that traditional English and math programs (where kids were made to wear dunce hats, strapped if they used their left hand, etc.) were also bad. No one is making movies about that? I think we spend too much time defending our sense of belonging. I have a “healthy” health coaching practice because people are not physically literate nor nutritionally literate. We can’t expect a modified change (i.e., innovative PE curriculum) to do it all. I think we need a radical change and I think it’s going to be a brave school district it or cutting edge independent school that will take the lead. Just hope you and I can be a part of it! :)

  • I love your passion on this topic, Amanda! I completely agree with you. I am about to got back to school for my MS in Nutrition and I 100% agree that PE and nutrition should go hand in hand to help slow down the obesity epidemic.

    • astanec

      Thanks, Kristen! I wish you all the best in school and hope we can collaborate some time!! :)