The unrealised and under-estimated value of human motion in human development, functioning and learning is the central cause for its devaluation in Australian society. This paper provides a greater insight into why human motion has high value and should be utilised more in advocacy and implementation in health and education, particularly school…

Contemporary health educators in schools are responsible for promoting the health of individual students, as well as a healthy school environment. The ongoing push for increasing device use in schools, which is underpinned by the information and communications technology (ICT) capability requirements of the new Australian Curriculum, can…

Inactivity has been linked to a range of lifestyle conditions such as hypertension, type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease (World Health Organisation, 2009). Engagement in physical activity and in sport has been consistently reported to decline as the general population ages (Telama et al., 2005). In particular, the age of adolescence has…

According to many studies, childhood obesity is an epidemic. Studies of populations in the United States and Australia highlight the critical need for children to be physically active in order to maintain healthy weight. In this article, the author describes the efforts made by Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) in supporting…

This article addresses the many ways in which schools can provide physical activity opportunities for students by taking advantage of hours that students might otherwise spend waiting for school to begin or playing computer games after school has ended. The article presents creative strategies for engaging students in activities that are…

In physical education, bodies are not only moved but made. There are perceived expectations for bodies in physical education to be "healthy bodies"--for teachers to be "appropriate" physical, fit, healthy and skillful "role models" and for students to display a slim body that is equated with fitness and health. In…

This paper focuses upon the relationship between physical education and interests in enabling more people to establish and maintain "active and healthy lives" from a curriculum development perspective. Twin and inter-linked concepts of "lifelong learning" and "lifelong physical activity" are presented as a conceptual…

Current research is revealing that physical activity can protect against a range of lifestyle diseases and illnesses. Consequently, early childhood practitioners and parents need to adopt guidelines and practices which encourage children of all ages to be physically active. In "Active children: Healthy Now and Later," authors Linley…