Physical activity is linked to positive health and academic outcomes, and it contributes to helping young people achieve and maintain a healthy weight (1). Most youth, statewide and nationally, do not meet recommended standards for physical activity or fitness (2, 3). While California has been a leader in advancing policies to promote physical fitness and combat childhood obesity, the state continues to face large disparities in fitness levels and obesity rates by socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity (3, 4).
Local, state, and federal policymakers can promote children's physical fitness by preserving and effectively implementing existing policies and by making additional investments and policy changes in early childhood settings, schools, and communities. For example, California has set physical education requirements for schools but not all schools meet them (5, 6). Low-income, Hispanic/Latino, and African American/black students are more likely to attend schools that are not compliant with physical education mandates than white and higher-income students (5, 6). Improving youth fitness also requires equitable access to safe places to play and built environments that encourage physical activity, both in schools and communities (7, 8).
Policy options that could improve children's physical activity include:
- Ensuring adequate funding, support, and compliance monitoring systems so that all schools meet or exceed state physical education (PE) requirements; also, encouraging schools to adopt comprehensive physical activity programs that include evidence-based PE with qualified teachers, daily physical activity during school beyond PE classes, and physical activity before and after school, with involvement from staff, families, and the community (6, 7, 8)
- Continuing to promote walk to school and Safe Routes to School programs, to increase the number of children walking or biking to school (7, 9)
- Encouraging schools to make recreational facilities available for use outside of school hours, especially in neighborhoods that lack such facilities; state and federal policies support joint-use agreements between schools and community organizations for this purpose (7, 9)
- Strengthening and ensuring implementation of policies to promote physical activity in after-school and early childhood settings, including staff training on existing guidelines, and supporting development of evidence-based physical activity programs in these settings; also increasing the accessibility and affordability of such programs in low-income neighborhoods (7, 8, 10)
- Promoting collaboration across sectors to address structural barriers that limit opportunities for physical activity, especially in low-income areas and communities of color; for example, incorporating health priorities into transportation and community planning to create safe built environments that encourage walking/biking and provide access to parks, recreation centers, or other places for play and physical activity (7, 8, 9)
- Supporting comprehensive public health initiatives that utilize best practices to promote physical activity and include effective planning, leadership, evaluation, research, and advocacy (8)
For more policy ideas about promoting physical activity among children, see kidsdata.org’s Research & Links section, Active Living Research, or Action for Healthy Kids. Also see Policy Implications on kidsdata.org under Weight and Nutrition.
Sources for this narrative:
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018).
Physical activity facts. Retrieved from:
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/facts.htm
2. National Physical Activity Plan Alliance. (2018).
The 2018 United States report card on physical activity for children and youth. Retrieved from:
https://www.physicalactivityplan.org/projects/reportcard.html
3. As cited on kidsdata.org,
Students meeting all fitness standards. (2019). California Department of Education.
4. California Department of Public Health, & Nutrition Policy Institute. (2016).
Obesity in California: The weight of the state, 2000-2014. Retrieved from:
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DCDIC/NEOPB/CDPH%20Document%20Library/RES_CAObesityReport_Website.pdf
5. Sanchez-Vaznaugh, E. V., et al. (2017). Physical education policy compliance and Latino children's fitness: Does the association vary by school neighborhood socioeconomic advantage?
PLoS ONE, 12(6), e0178980. Retrieved from:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0178980
6. Collins, A., & García, R. (2015).
Physical education for all California public school students. The City Project. Retrieved from:
https://www.cityprojectca.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Physical-Education-for-All-201503061.pdf
7. California Department of Public Health. (2018).
Physical activity resource guide: Implementing physical activity programming for SNAP-eligible populations (2nd ed.). Retrieved from:
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DCDIC/NEOPB/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Final%20PARG%206.2.18.pdf
8. Pate, R. R., et al. (2016). Policies for promotion of physical activity and prevention of obesity in adolescence.
Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness, 14(2), 47-53. Retrieved from:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1728869X1630154X
9. California Department of Public Health, Division of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health. (2019).
Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative: Systems and environmental changes. Retrieved from:
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CFH/DMCAH/NUPA/Pages/Systems-and-Environmental-Change.aspx
10. Cradock, A. L., et al. (2017). Using cost-effectiveness analysis to prioritize policy and programmatic approaches to physical activity promotion and obesity prevention in childhood.
Preventive Medicine, 95(Suppl.), S17-S27. Retrieved from:
https://activelivingresearch.org/using-cost-effectiveness-analysis-prioritize-policy-and-programmatic-approaches-physical-activity