Institute of medicine report: Physical activity and physical education in the school environment

The 2012 IOM report, Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention, outlined solutions to the U.S. obesity crisis and recommended that a major focus on childhood obesity prevention take place in schools, and that physical activity is integral to obesity prevention. Schools have long provided opportunities for physical activity; most notably through physical education to children and adolescents. However, few physical education programs are able to provide the minimum amount of physical activity needed. The IOM committee was tasked to review: the current status of physical activity and physical education in the school environment; the evidence on the relationship between physical activity/physical education and physical, cognitive and brain, and psychosocial health and development; and the effectiveness of various approaches to incorporating physical activity into the school environment. The committee's report makes evidence-based recommendations for action at the federal, state, and community levels to address physical activity and physical education in schools. Within a life-stage framework, the committee considered the role of physical activity and physical education-related programs and policies offered in the school environment in contributing to short- and long-term health, health behaviors, and development (e.g., motor and cognitive development). The committee's report will be released in May 2013. The presentation will provide an overview of the committee's decision-making process, the report's evidence-based recommendations, identified major gaps in knowledge, and appropriate strategic programmatic, environmental, and policy approaches for providing, strengthening, and improving physical activity and physical education opportunities and programs in the school environment, including before, during, and after school.