The Education Sector of the recently updated National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP, 2023) was developed to assist schools, early care and education centers, and colleges and universities to establish policies and provide programmatic opportunities to support all students in adopting physically active lifestyles. The 2023 Education Sector…

Considering that global physical activity levels in young children continue to decline, planned breaks during the school day provide a unique opportunity to promote the importance of physical activity while also increasing student engagement in movement activities. This article provides information on the benefits of and recommendations for active…

Undoubtedly, the world has seen drastic changes after the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic has also solidified the importance of children's immunity, health, and physical activity (PA). Regular PA is considered an investment for the future, which will increase the quality of life of all people. Specific to COVID-19, evidence suggests that PA…

In Montana, SHAPE Montana Board members saw the reduction and replacement of physical education with traditional classroom time and decided to spring into action. Collectively, they leveraged their state organization (SHAPE Montana) and created an advocacy program called "The 150 Program" to promote the importance of physical education…

Preschool settings play a significant role in promoting physical activity for children under five years. Most of the time, however, is sedentary (50-94%) with only a small percentage devoted to light (5-27%) or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (1-17%). While the experiences children have during childcare hours can impact their physical…

People with intellectual disabilities show significantly lower levels of physical activity than the general population in respect to all consequences for health. A positive effect of physical activity on health preservation has been proven, but interventions for physical activity in everyday life seem to be rare for people with intellectual…

Physical activity (PA) promotion is an ideal intervention target for public health because it has the potential to help individuals feel better, sleep better, and perform daily tasks more easily, in addition to providing disease prevention benefits. There is strong evidence that individual-level theory-based behavioral interventions are effective…

Evidence supports increasing student physical activity in school, and Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAPs) can help students meet national physical activity goals to support their physical and mental health. Although strategies and frameworks are readily available to support schools in their efforts to implement successful…

Individual with intellectual disabilities can have special health care concerns and will often need support in managing their health care needs. These health care needs can include diabetes, obesity management or fitness. Activity trackers have become widely available as a tool for managing health needs by monitoring number of steps, activities,…

Because fitness and physical activity both tend to decline as students enter their middle school years, it is important to try to establish protocols and interventions to make this student population enjoy being active. Further, it has been shown that shorter exercise sessions are more likely to be executed. Using a high-intensity interval…

In my experience, the word dance in physical education has been somewhat of a taboo. Many physical education teachers either choose not to teach dance at all because they do not feel comfortable with it or they struggle to find ways to teach it properly to their students. The teaching dance for understanding (TDfU) model completely changed my…

This Viewpoint looks at Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in physical education and the authors contend that making SEL the primary learning domain for school physical education programs is problematic. The article shares thoughts and provides suggestions about how to re-focus the discourse about the central goals for physical education programs.

The first Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAPs) position statement from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) was released in 2008. It was the first document of its kind to recommend increased school-based opportunities for physical activity. The Statement recommended that schools focus on quality…

Programs integrating social-emotional learning (SEL) and physical activity (PA) can contribute to positive behavior outcomes and development for adolescent girls. The purpose of this article is to report the development of the EmpowerHER Program curriculum. Specifically, this curriculum describes implementation strategies and activities tailored…

Novel games can enrich a physical education (PE) curriculum by providing students opportunities to increase their moderate to vigorous physical activity and understanding new game concepts, playing positions and physical skills (Clancy et al., 2007). Quidditch is a relatively new game that includes unique characteristics to enhance an existing…