Published: July 17, 2008 12:09 am            

OUR VIEW: NT shoots gym class air ball

It was disturbing for us to read last week that students at North Tonawanda elementary schools aren’t receiving the prescribed regiment of physical education the state requires.

A teacher at Meadow Elementary went before the board to notify members of the lack of compliance. The omission, a brave one on the part of that teacher, brings about several questions.

First, who is in charge of making sure the district is in compliance with state standards? Where does that buck stop and why was it passed? Perhaps more disturbing is the distinct possibility, as was hinted at the same school board meeting by administrators, that they were aware of the deficiency, but hadn’t corrected it.

Second, why, in an age of increasingly out-of-shape children, is the district ignoring this serious problem? With the ever-increasing popularity of sedentary forms of juvenile entertainment like the Internet and video games, the district should be actively seeking to combat the temptations of the couch-potato generation.

We worry that this recent revelation has offered a glimpse into a district that is out of touch with the issues facing children these days.

Flip on the evening news or open any newspaper and you’re likely to find a story warning about the health risks of obesity — and the resulting problems our health care system is facing as a result of our increasingly unhealthy and inactive lifestyles.

Nationally, nearly half of our children are considered either overweight or obese. The numbers improve some in New York state, but the district, according to, Debra Giglia, the Meadow teacher who addressed the board, there are 150 elementary school pupils grades K-6 in North Tonawanda that fit that bill. Last year’s graduating class had 350 students.

Those numbers only represent the children in elementary school. It doesn’t account for the students who put on weight as they reach puberty and mature into young adults.

With those statistics framing the issue, we have to wonder who thought cutting back on gym classes during precious early years when habits good and bad are formed was a prudent policy. Studies show with consistency that healthy habits formed in childhood greatly increase the likelihood of leading a healthy life. The converse is also true. Those who are overweight or obese as children are far more likely to continue that way into adulthood than those who don’t have a weight problem when they’re younger.

Did the North Tonawanda school district miss that message? And more importantly, now that they’ve gotten it, are they going to do anything about it?

        

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