Study Finds That Wisconsin Schools Don’t Offer Enough P.E. To Curb Obesity

A new report shows that Wisconsin – like most states in the country – offers less physical education to students than it should to address obesity.

The report by the American Cancer Society shows that just five states – California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Washington state – require 90 minutes of physical education per week for all students.

The ACS’s Wisconsin governmental affairs director Allison Miller says it’s disappointing that Wisconsin doesn’t have a daily requirement of physical education, as it spends over $3 billion a year on obesity-related health care costs. “That’s really unfortunate when you consider the impact that that has on the state’s health – on the risk for chronic disease, including cancer.”

Daily physical education requirements in Wisconsin ended in the late 1980s. Right now elementary students are required to have physical education three times per week, while middle school students in Wisconsin are required to exercise only once per week.

National recommendations are a half hour each day in elementary school and 45 minutes each day in middle school.