By: Imtiyaz Hussain Malik
Physical education fosters personal and community wellness by empowering students to attain healthy, lifelong attitudes and behaviors through physical activity as part of the total educational experience. It promotes a physically active lifestyle and ;
Is a link to good health;
Is a preventive measure against disease;
Is a program for muscle strength and fitness;
Promotes academic learning;
Builds self-esteem;
Quality, daily physical education in schools is an important part of a student’s comprehensive, well-rounded education program and a means of positively impacting life-long health and well-being. The optimal physical education program will foster a lifetime commitment to physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle, ultimately, improved coordinated school health programs, of which physical education is a central component, will augment other prevention efforts and help to reverse the growing epidemic of childhood obesity which threatens to undo decades of progress in the fight against cardiovascular disease. Effective efforts made now will help children avoid a lifetime of chronic disease and disability.
Physical education develops the students motor-skills and hand-eye coordination physical heath allows students to function even better in classrooms. This circulation produces longer attention span during classes allowing longer concentration and absorption. It is because of the self-discipline and dedication to excel in a sport that brings out the best in students. In school, the physical education program introduces these sport activities to students, allowing them to make choices to which sport areas they want to get involved in. This paper article aims to give an insight in to the health benefits of physical education programs for students within the school system. It also provides legislative/regulatory recommendations for the purpose of improving the quality of physical education.
Physical education fosters personal and community wellness by empowering students to attain healthy, lifelong attitudes and behaviors through physical activity as part of total educational experience. A curriculum framework for physical education: Adjusting the focus builds on the belief that learners in a school setting have a fundamental need and desire for movement. This framework defines physical education as – that part of educational experience which provides learners with the opportunity to become aware of and engage in physical activity, that is whole-bodied, intrinsically valuable and personally meaningful within the context of the learners social and environmental setting.
Physical education, in its broadest sense, contributes to the following among school students:
Personal Development:
Students will be able to, for example:
Make appropriate decisions in relation to physical activity and take responsibility for those decisions:
Explore movement activities purposefully both independently and in groups:
Demonstrate understanding to the relationship between health and an active lifestyle.
Citizenship:
Students will be able to, for example:
Demonstrate understanding of the importance of rules and regulations in society through the application of rules and principles of fair play in game situations:
Demonstrate understanding of sustainable development and its implications for the environment:
Demonstrate co-operative group skills; and demonstrates understanding of the need for social interdependence.
Communication:
Students will be able to, for example:
Explore, reflect on, and express their own ideas, learning, perceptions and feelings relating to movement.
Demonstrate understanding for facts and relationships presented through words: numbers, symbols, graphs and charts, in relation to game or group activities:
Problem Solving:
Students will be able to, for example:
Identify describe, formulate and reformulate movement problems 0 formulate tentative ideas and question assumptions to solve movement problems individually and collaboratively.
Acquire, process and interpret information critically to make informed decisions related to active living and use a variety of strategies and perspectives with flexibility and creativity for solving problems;
Aesthetic Expression:
Students will be able to, for example use various movements as a means of formulating and expressing ideas, perceptions, and feelings, demonstrate understanding of the contribution of movement to daily life, cultural identity and diversity, and the economy, demonstrate understanding of the ideas perceptions and feeling of others as expressed in various movements, forms.
Regular physical activity is associated with a healthier, longer life and with a lower risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and some cancers, current recommendations are for children to engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day.
Children spend over half their day in school, so it is reasonable to require that they should get at least 30 minutes of their time in school.
Physical education should be an important part of that requirement and does more than provides some minutes of moderate vigorous activity. It also exposes students to life time activities and teachers students how to integrate exercise into their lives. Since childhood obesity rates continue to rise across the regions of the globe, there is public support for more physical education in schools. A study conducted by opinion research corporation International for the National Association for sport and Physical Education (NASPE) in 2003 indicated that 81% of adults believe that daily physical education should be mandatory in schools.
Recent research shows that regular exercise can restore blood vessel function and improve cardiovascular risk factors in obese children.
A six-month exercise program has been found to reduce body mass index, diabetes risk factors and low – degree inflammation.
