SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 10

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2014

INTRODUCED BY

Jacob R. Candelaria

FOR THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE CREATION OF A TASK FORCE TO ASSESS THE ROLE OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN REDUCING OBESITY IN CHILDREN AND TO DEVELOP A PLAN FOR INCREASED WEEKLY INSTRUCTION TO IMPROVE CHILDREN'S FITNESS.

     WHEREAS, obesity rates in the United States have more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents over the past thirty years; and

     WHEREAS, the federal centers for disease control and prevention reported that, in 2010, one-third of children and adolescents in the United States were overweight or obese; and     WHEREAS, obese adolescents are more likely to suffer from prediabetes; and 

     WHEREAS, student data from the 2011 New Mexico youth risk and resiliency survey of high school students revealed that only twenty-eight and four-tenths percent of students attended physical education classes daily while twenty-seven and three-tenths percent of students were reported as being obese or overweight; and

     WHEREAS, children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese as adults; and

     WHEREAS, research has shown that people with poorer health in childhood are more likely to experience lower academic success in school, worse health and reduced employment and job satisfaction in adulthood; and

     WHEREAS, physical inactivity increases the risk, in adulthood, of heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis, anxiety and depression and other chronic diseases; and

     WHEREAS, new studies have suggested that, in the global population, the mortality rate due to physical inactivity approaches that of cigarette smoking; and

     WHEREAS, the substantial disease risk associated with physical inactivity has been described as a pandemic and is extremely expensive; and

     WHEREAS, scientific evidence points to the positive impact of regular exercise on learning and decreasing obesity; and

     WHEREAS, twenty-four states besides New Mexico have mandated minimum physical education units at specified, regular intervals as a measure to improve children's fitness, decrease obesity and increase attention to improve outcomes in the classroom; and

     WHEREAS, the importance of physical education for children in elementary schools is reflected in its inclusion as a funded program unit in the Public School Finance Act; and

     WHEREAS, the legislature and the public education department have prescribed physical education content with benchmarks and performance standards; and

     WHEREAS, physical education is a required, instructional program in public schools in the state, and one unit of physical education is required for high school graduation; and

     WHEREAS, classes within the school system provide a venue for children to receive regular physical education instruction and to learn potentially lifelong healthy habits; and

     WHEREAS, the cost of failure to address obesity will lead to New Mexico residents having decreased buying power through decreased job attainment and accelerated costs of health care in response to morbidities associated with obesity;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislative education study committee be requested to establish a task force to evaluate the feasibility of requiring one hundred fifty minutes of physical education per school week, per year, for all children in public elementary schools by licensed physical education instructors; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative education study committee be requested to include on the task force representatives from elementary schools; the New Mexico association for health, physical education, recreation and dance; the New Mexico athletic directors association; the New Mexico coalition of school administrators; experts in exercise physiology; and health care professionals involved in the care of children with obesity, including the New Mexico pediatric society, physical therapists, occupational therapists and the New Mexico school nurses association, as well as representatives from the legislative education study committee; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be requested to review programs established in the twenty-four states that have mandated weekly multiple hours of physical education in elementary schools; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be requested to develop a plan for the funding and implementation of weekly multi-hour mandatory physical education in elementary schools to begin at the start of the 2015-2016 school year; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force provide a report to the legislative education study committee by October 1, 2014; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the chair of the legislative education study committee, the chair of the legislative finance committee and the secretary of public education.

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