Chris Hansen, ACS CAN President

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NYC Bolsters School Physical Education Programs With New Initiative

June 16, 2017

New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council released a universal physical education plan for all city schools with a deadline of the year 2021 for completion. Much of this funding would go toward gym repairs and construction. The goal would be to allocate space for physical education in each city school. The plan will focus on approximately 200 schools that do not have a gymnasium. It will also assure that New York City follows state physical education requirements by September 2021.

Over the past two years, Mayor de Blasio had already taken a huge step forward in addressing this inequality and access to physical education by committing $100 million over four years to hire 500 full-time physical education teachers for New York City schools. Now, many of those teachers need a space to work with the students.

Appropriate physical education and an active lifestyle have been among the important issues ACS CAN has focused on over the years. Beyond the obvious health benefits, many studies have demonstrated that physical education can boost students’ academic performance and interest in their education. Being overweight or obese as well as physical inactivity and poor nutrition are responsible for 20 percent of all cancer cases each year.

It is widely known that many New York City school children are not getting the physical education programing they need and deserve even though state law requires it. This New York City plan will go a long way toward improving the health of students and ultimately saving lives.  Physical education not only helps reduce the number of children who are obese, but also helps these students lead longer, healthier and happier lives.

I’m proud of the dedicated work on this issue by our ACS CAN staff in New York City. I hope other cities follow New York’s lead and assure appropriate physical education for all of their students.

 

More Blogs AboutHealthy Eating and Active Living, New York, healthy eating active living

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