Press Room

American Council on Exercise Applauds Congress for Passing $74.5 Million For Physical Education Programs in 2014

Posted: Jan 21, 2014 in

Workout watchdog nonprofit says $720 per school just isn’t enough

 

SAN DIEGO, January 14, 2014 -- This week Congress approved funding of the Carol White Physical Education Plan (PEP), providing $74.5 million in grants directly to local school districts and community-based organizations for quality physical education programs in 2014. The funding aims to enable a more active and healthy lifestyle for American children, but American Council on Exercise (ACE), the nation’s leading workout watchdog, says the low-balled amount won’t make a dent in the nation’s child obesity epidemic.

“Childhood obesity rates have consistently been shown to negatively impact healthcare costs, academic achievement, productivity and self-esteem,” says ACE CEO and President Scott Goudeseune. “While this is a great step, it’s not enough to fully fund physical education as part of the core curriculum in our nation’s schools.”

If every school were to receive this grant funding, each would receive an average of just over $700. When incorporating sequestration effects, the amount shrinks even more.

ACE believes that the benefits of physical activity are well documented and support the call for a more significant investment in physical education programs as part of the core curriculum in our nation’s schools:

• Only six states require physical education in every grade K-12, according to 2012 Shape of the Nation Report: PE Status AAHPERD.
• Children who have physical education are three to four times more likely to be active, according to Interviews on Sedentary Lifestyles, Physical Activity Council 2010.
• Students that are more physically active have better scores on standardized assessments of academic performance and progress, says San Diego State University and the Active Living Research Program, Physical Education Matters 2008.

Goudeseune says that ACE calls on parents, educators, communities and government to work together to allocate the resources necessary to provide physical education and activity opportunities for children that meet the National Physical Activity Guidelines before, during and after school.

To learn more about ACE’s work fighting the obesity epidemic, visit ACEfitness.org.

 

About ACE
Since 1985, American Council on Exercise (ACE) has evolved from a small nonprofit dedicated to educating people about proper fitness to a 50,000-strong network of certified Personal Trainers, Group Fitness Instructors (GFI), Health Coaches and Advanced Health & Fitness Specialists (AHFS). As the largest NCCA-accredited nonprofit fitness certification organization in the world, ACE provides quality continuing education to professionals and conducts independent science-based research to protect all Americans from unsafe and ineffective products. Our goal is to inspire people to live their most fit lives through free fitness resources including workouts, nutrition information and expert advice. For more information, call (800) 825-3636 or visit ACEfitness.org.  AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EXERCISE, ACE and ACE logos are Registered Trademarks of the American Council on Exercise.

 

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