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body mass index (bMI)/weight status The relationship between physical 
activity and children’s body weight has been studied in several reviews of 
school-based interventions designed to increase physical activity overall and 
during physical education in particular. Reviewing 25 school-based inter-
vention studies that addressed diet or activity behaviors and used anthro-
pometric outcomes, investigators found that 65 percent of the interventions 
were effective, reporting a statistically significant reduction in BMI and 
skinfold measures for at least one subgroup. The authors concluded that the 
majority of the reviewed obesity prevention interventions were effective and 
that physical education in schools is an example of a successful intervention 
(Doak et al., 2006). In a review of 17 studies concerning physical educa-
tion in schools, however, investigators found no effects on BMI, although 
they identified some effects on skinfolds and percent body fat (Kahn et 
al., 2002). Effects of school-based physical activity interventions on BMI 
also were not observed in a review that included 14 studies, 10 of which 

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Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
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