Fast Facts : Requirements
Physical education and activity in schools is not always required.
- No federal standards or mandates exist for physical education. State and local boards choose their own extent, curriculum and intensity of physical education. Only one state, Illinois, requires daily physical activity for all students, grades K through 12.
- Tennessee requires yearly physical education for students grades K through 8, but this does not mean daily activity. Most schools systems require only one physical education or wellness credit in high school.
- In an ongoing study of physical education time in Tennessee, students K through12 in 2003 and 2004 spent less than 15 minutes per day in a physical education class.
- Seventy-eight percent of parents in the U.S. believe that physical education or recess should not be reduced or replaced with academic classes.
- Thirty-five percent of parents rated their children’s school programs for teaching good patterns of eating and physical activity to prevent obesity as “poor,” “non-existent,” or “don’t know.”
Sources: National Association for Sport and Physical Education; Department of State Rules and Regulations; American Obesity Association Survey; Tennessee Coordinated School Health Program.