Ont. elementary schools lack phys-ed staff: report
Posted March 18, 2013 1:25 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ontario’s elementary schools are failing when it comes to battling the bulge in children, a new study finds.
The report by People For Education found that more than half the students in the province don’t have a health and physical-education teacher, despite troubling statistics on the rise in childhood obesity.
The report comes just weeks after Health Minister Deb Matthews said the number of obese children in the province has jumped by 75 per cent over the last 30 years.
Ontario is striving to reduce obesity rates in children by 20 per cent over the next five years, and the province’s Healthy Kids Panel recently suggested a ban on junk food and fast-food advertising to kids under the age of 12 as one way to combat the problem.
The province has also mandated 20 minutes of mandatory Daily Physical Activity (DPA) in elementary schools, but the report found that many principals said it was “low priority” and that there wasn’t enough time, equipment, or space to realistically implement it.
“One study in the GTA found that fewer than half of participating children were provided with DPA every day and no children were receiving the full 20 minutes,” the report stated.
People For Education executive director Annie Kidder says schools have to raise the bar on physical education, the way have on academic performance.
“We’re doing really well getting the marks up, but not so well on the health and well-being front,” Kidder said.
“Ontario’s children need (an) overall healthy schools policy that is supported by funding.”
The report by the independent parent-led organization was funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and was based on surveys from 1,000 Ontario schools.
