Page 4/The Battalion/Monday, April 28, 1986
By Scott Honn
Reporter
Prof helps
develop
new fitness
curriculum
Recent evaluations showing
that Texas school children are be
coming more obese and more out
of shape has prompted a Texas
A&M researcher to help develop
a new physical education curric
ulum for the state’s public
schools.
Dr. Elvin Smith, professor of
medical physiology and co-chair
man of a task force reporting to
Gov. Mark White’s commission on
physical fitness, says a 1984
statewide fitness test of more than
6,000 students showed significant
declines in fitness and endurance
over 1974 levels.
“Texas children are becoming
more obese,” Smith said, “and it’s
becoming more the norm than
the exception.”
The task force has proposed a
new physical education curric
ulum that will increase the
amount of physical education in
Texas public school systems.
“The majority of physical edu
cation programs, especially on the
high school level, are grossly inad
equate,” Smith said.
The task force has devised a
new fitness test for students, from
kindergarten through high
school, that will measure a stu
dent’s physical fitness, Smith said.
In addition to the test, Smith
has helped design new curric
ulum recommendations for phys
ical education classes. These pro
posals are currently being
reviewed by White, the Texas Ed
ucation Agency and other state
education leaders.
“One of the things we are
asking for in our proposal is a re
quirement for every student to
take physical education every
year,” Smith said.
Students are only required to
take one and a half years of physi
cal education in high school un
der the current curriculum, he
said. _
A student can get a waiver
from physical education for just
about anything, he said. Smith
said band, drill team, choir, and
various other activities can
exempt a student from physical
education.
ups. Smith said sit-ups can
strengthen the abdominal mus
cles and increase flexibility.
“Weakness in these areas
greatly increases the chance for
“A student should not be al
lowed to substitute one course for
another when the courses do not
reach the same endpoint,” Smith
said.
Smith said the new test will be
piloted in selected school districts
next fall. Details of the new test
will not be available until June.
He said the test will concentrate
on endurance and overall fitness,
rather than on athletic skills.
In the past, the tests have been
a measure of athletic ability and
not physical fitness, he said. The
new test will define fitness and be
used as a teaching element.
Smith said the new test will em
phasize aerobic activities such as
swimming, bicycling and running.
Another exercise that will be
prominent in the new test is sit-
lower back problems,” Smith said,
“which is one of the most com
mon ailments in the country.”
It is imperative for a child to be
physically fit, he said, otherwise
society will pay a high cost in the
future.
Smith said evidence suggests
that maintaining physical fitness
helps prevent cardiovascular dis
eases.
“Heart disease is the No. 1
killer in America today,” he said,
“and 1 think we should do any
thing we can to curtail the No. 1
killer.
“It makes little sense to teach
the basics of education in such a
manner that the development of
physical fitness is neglected when
this neglect can increase the
chance of an early death.”
Police officei
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both were hospitalized
Authorities said felony „
charges would be filed a J
prisoner, who allegedly set
n ess and blankets on fire.
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By S
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.etch
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