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Educating the Student Body
Physical Education
Status and Trends
No national data are available concerning population-level trends 
over time in enrollment and daily attendance in physical education, overall 
physical activity in physical education classes, or the amount of time spent 
in vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity during physical educa-
tion 
lessons among students in elementary and middle schools. However, 
research pertaining to children in elementary and middle schools documents 
insufficient physical education opportunities. One study of elementary 
schools across 10 U.S. localities found that the schools offered an average of 
two physical education lessons per week lasting 33 minutes each; children in 
this study received 25 minutes per week of vigorous- or moderate-intensity 
physical activity—far short of national recommendations—in physical edu-
cation (Belsky et al., 2003). And among middle and high school adolescents 
who participated in Wave I of the Adolescent Health Study in 1993, only 
21.3 percent reported participating in physical education on one or more 
days per week (Gordon-Larsen et al., 2000). 
The CDC has collected national data on physical education among 
high school students over the past two decades through the Youth Risk 
Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS). These data reveal disconcerting pat-
terns as well. Among high school students during the period 1991-2007, 
enrollment and daily attendance in physical education classes and being 
physically active during these classes fell short of the objectives of Healthy 
People 2010 (Lowry et al., 2001, 2005, 2009). Specifically, in 1991, 48 
percent of high school students were enrolled in physical education, with 
no significant changes between 1991 and 2003 (Lowry et al., 2001, 2005). 
Moreover, daily attendance at physical education classes declined signifi-
cantly from 41.6 percent in 1991 to 25.4 percent in 1995, with no signifi-
cant changes between 1995 and 2007 (Lowry, 2005, 2009). 
In addition to enrollment and attendance, the quantity of physical 
activity during physical education classes is crucial. In 1991, only 36.8 per-
cent of high school students were physically active in physical education 
classes; although the percentage was slightly higher in 2003 (39.2 percent), 
there were no significant changes between 1991 and 2003. Further, no 
significant changes were observed from 1999 to 2007 (Lowry et al., 2009). 
Although physical education may be offered, high schools do not 
always require students to take it; these variations appear to follow grade 
lines. From 2004 to 2007, 88 percent of 8th graders, 48 percent of 10th 
graders, and only 20 percent of 12th graders attended schools that required 
physical education in their grade (O’Malley et al., 2009). The average 
weekly minutes spent by high school students in physical education classes 

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Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
The Effectiveness of Physical Activity and Physical Education Policies and Programs
 
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also varies across grade levels—according to a national study, declining 
from 172 minutes in 8th grade to 164 minutes in 10th, down to 89 min-
utes by 12th grade, with the overall decrease being statistically significant 
(Johnston et al., 2007). The available national data indicate that between 
1991 and 2007 no significant progress was made toward increasing par-
ticipation in physical education classes among high school students (Lowry 
et al., 2009).
Disparities 
All youth should engage in physical education and meet the recom-
mended 60 or more minutes per week of vigorous- or moderate-intensity 
physical activity, regardless of geographic region, school attended, grade 
level, or individual-level characteristics. In addition to the overall troubling 
physical education participation patterns described above, a number of 
studies have documented disparities by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, 
and gender.