Filling the Gap: A Call for Legislative Action and Community Mobilization to Implement Physical Education Requirements in Colleges and Universities

摘要

It is essential to the national fight against obesity that institutions of higher education implement uniform PE requirements. Part I provides a background to the obesity epidemic, and a brief history of PE in the United States. Part II analyzes the current status of PE programs in primary and secondary education schools (K-12 schools), and institutions of higher education. Part III outlines traditional administrative schemes at American institutions of higher education, and potential legal roadblocks to federal and state regulatory involvement. Part IV recommends that a mixture of community and school-based measures, including PE requirements, be utilized at the collegiate level. This Article concludes that, in order to fill a gap in the current national obesity prevention policy, legislation should be enacted providing financial support for PE programs in institutions of higher education, and that completion of PE and wellness courses should be a graduation requirement at all colleges and universities in the United States.