Report Title:

Physical Activities; Curriculum; Elementary and Middle Schools

Description:

Requires all elementary and middle schools to include in their curriculum at least 200 minutes of physical activities every 10 school days. Makes an appropriation.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2086

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO SUPPORT ADDITIONAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY REQUIREMENT IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), schools and communities should do more to promote physical activities for young people. The CDC makes this recommendation because of the genetic and behavioral risk factors that exist which make children susceptible to higher rates of sickness and mortality as they get older. One such risk factor is the prevalence of obesity, which is at an all-time high among children and adolescents. Childhood obesity can lead to the development of life-long heart disease and diabetes, among other serious ailments.

Many health advocates believe that adults acquire patterns of health-related behaviors during childhood. Thus, children who are encouraged to engage in regular physical activity in their youth are more likely to continue a pattern of physical activity in adulthood. Establishing a regular pattern of physical activity contributes to the achievement of better long-term physical health overall. Physical activity has been found to have beneficial effects on a child's mental health, and regular exercise produces positive, lasting effects over the course of a lifetime.

A recent study released by the California Department of Education revealed a direct relationship between the academic achievement and physical fitness of California's public school students. According to the study:

(1) Higher achievement was associated with higher levels of fitness for each grade level measured (fifth, seventh, and ninth);

(2) The relationship between academic achievement and fitness was greater in mathematics than in reading, particularly at higher fitness levels;

(3) Students who met minimum fitness levels in three or more physical fitness areas showed the greatest gains in academic achievement at all three grade levels measured; and

(4) Females demonstrated higher achievement than males, particularly at higher fitness levels.

In response to this study, the California Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin issued a statement: "This statewide study provides compelling evidence that the physical well-being of students has a direct impact on their ability to achieve academically. We now have the proof we've been looking for--students achieve best when they are physically fit."

The purpose of this Act is to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity and to promote greater physical health among Hawaii's children by requiring all elementary and middle schools to include in their curricula various physical activities for at least two hundred minutes every ten school days. This Act also makes an appropriation to support the additional resources that schools may require to carry out the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 2. Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§302A-   Physical activity requirements; elementary and middle schools. (a) All elementary and middle schools shall ensure that students engage in physical activity for not less than two hundred minutes every ten school days, exclusive of recesses and lunch periods. This requirement may be fulfilled by activity that occurs outside the physical education curriculum.

(b) The department may grant temporary exemption to a student from courses in physical education if the student is:

(1) Disabled, ill, or injured, and a modified program to meet the needs of the student cannot be provided;

(2) Playing on a school athletic team; provided the exemption shall last only for the period of the particular sport's season; or

(3) Enrolled for one-half or less of the work normally required of full-time students."

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $          , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007, to carry out the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 5. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of education.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval and shall apply to schools beginning January 1, 2007.

INTRODUCED BY:

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