Does time spent in physical education in school decrease learning in other areas?
It has been suggested that the recent decreases in physical education requirements are a result of two principal factors. First, the demand for additional time for “academic” classes is a common reason for reducing time in physical education. Second, when financial crises exist physical education is often one of the first subjects to be deleted. Evidence suggests that time spent in physical education DOES NOT decrease learning in other subjects. Youth who spend less time in other subjects to allow for regular physical education have been shown to do equally well or better in academic classes. Two of the primary studies to support this contention are the Three Rivers Study (Trudeau et al., 1998) and SPARK (Sallis et al., 1999). The health benefits from regular physical education are an important benefit of the regular school curriculum. The evidence suggests that the time spent to get these benefits does not detract from learning in other areas of the curriculum. Are there other reasons
