Cost Effectiveness of an Elementary School Active Physical Education Policy
2015
While most elementary schools in the U.S. do require some physical education (PE), on average, students spend less than half of class time engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). PE activity levels are lower when more class time is spent organizing students or reviewing rules, and when PE classes are led by classroom teachers instead of trained PE specialists. Policies aimed at increasing MVPA levels during PE class – “active PE” policies – have been pursued in recent years by some school districts and states. This study estimated the impact of scaling these policies to the national level. Using a simulation model, the authors found that adopting these policies would cost $70 million in the first year and increase MVPA by 2 minutes in each 30-minute PE class, reaching more than 17 million children and resulting in $60 million in healthcare cost savings over a 10-year period.
Cost Effectiveness of an Elementary School Active Physical Education Policy
Source:
Barrett JL, Gortmaker SL, Long MW, Ward ZJ, Resch SC, Moodie ML, Carter R, Sacks G, Swinburn BA, Wang YC, Cradock AL. Cost Effectiveness of an Elementary School Active Physical Education Policy. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2015; 49 (1): 148-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.02.005
Not open access.