Who Sport What?

Olympic Extremes: Fitter And Fatter

News from London that hosting the Olympic Games might not increase sporting participation merely echoes news from China of soaring childhood obesity and declining participation in school physical education (P.E.).

Unlike other nations, however, China's declining youth sports participation is likely to be masked in international sporting competition. While preparing to host the Games, China has concurrently developed a system of specialized sports schools, set to sustain the medal-table victory likely to be achieved in 2008.

(Photo: Mark Leong / Matrix)

That still leaves 15.1% of boys in Shanghai as "obese" (compared with 18% of boys in the U.S. as "overweight"). In an attempt to turn things around, the city authorities have mandated more P.E. and inclusion of P.E. grades in overall assessments of students' performances. Most Western societies would do well to flip the same switch.

Congress In Need Of Physical Education?

The House of Representatives was all but empty Tuesday, for a resolution on Physical Education (P.E.) week. There were only two speakers. Debate, such as it was, admitted the stark facts: a quarter of young Americans do not participate in physical education at all. Two thirds of kids aged 9-13 do no exercise outside of school. Obesity-related diseases already cost over $100 billion a year.

Now we need to admit some stark facts about the negative impact of the U.S. political system on the health of children. The “Leave No Child Behind” Act of 2001, for example, exacerbated the lack of P.E. by encouraging a resource shift towards core academic areas. Fewer than half of States include P.E. in students' Grade Point Averages. And here’s a real shocker: a quarter of States allow students to gain P.E. credit by taking courses online. That’s right, P.E. credit for sitting in front of the internets.

On Tuesday the Senate, meanwhile, was far busier than the House, as it debated various issues related to drug prescriptions that impact “big pharma”. Not much of a lobby, it seems, for having healthy kids to start with.