Physical Education Teacher Education: The Key to Eliminating Childhood Obesity

Abstract

Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) will be the key to eliminating child-hood obesity for the future by preparing physical education teacher candidates in the knowl-edge and skills they need to teach P-12 students, as well as to prepare them for the sensitivity and caring needed to teach overweight and obese students. The purpose of this article is to ad-vocate for more time in physical education at all levels of schooling to increase P-12 students' motivation to participate, to increase their academic achievement, and to increase their skills to enable them to participate in sport and physical activities for many years. Childhood obesity has become an epidemic in the last 30 years, and school physical education is the best venue for educating children about the proper nutrition and exercise needed to control weight. Children spend most of their time in the day in schools. Budget cuts to physical education are unwise in our current history, and school " physical activity " programs cannot take the place of educat-ing children on how best to use their physical skills in the future to participate for a lifetime in physical activities. Quality school physical education delivered by quality physical educators may be the answer to the childhood obesity epidemic.