Pertinent Policy: Assessing the Gap Between Physical Activity Policy and Teachers' Practices within the Classroom

Introduction: Policy is needed to combat the spread of childhood obesity (Frieden et al., 2010; Nestle & Jacobson, 2000). While national and state efforts to implement policies aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles for children are certainly helpful, there is often a lack of alignment between policy and school teachers (Cohen et al., 2009; Seffrin, 1990). Given that children spend most of their time in the classroom, it is imperative that these environments be informed by the most up-to-date legislature addressing obesity prevention behaviors like physical activity (PA) and yet, it is often the case that the tools needed for dissemination of this information are lacking. The current paper seeks to find if there are discrepancies between policies aimed at PA promotion and teachers’ PA promotion practices in the classroom.

Methods:Before attending a professional development seminar centered on implementing a comprehensive school PA program (CSPAP; Centeio & Castelli, 2011; Lounsbery et al., 2010) in school settings, 155 physical education (PE) teachers (70.8% female; Mean Years Teaching = 17.67; 83.3% Caucasian) responded to items asking about their awareness of state, school district, and school policies addressing PA. They were also asked to report on PA opportunities offered throughout, before, and after the school day. Descriptive statistics and a regression analysis were run to determine if policies present at the state, district, and school level were associated with PA opportunities offered.

 Results: Correlations revealed a significant relationship between total PA opportunities offered with district (r = .14, p < .05) and school policy (r = .16, p < .05), but not with state policy (p =.44). Using a hierarchical regression, it was determined that state, district, and school policies were not significant predictors of PA opportunities offered, when controlling for school enrollment and region of the country [F(3,152) = 1.35, p = .26, Adj. R²  =  .01].

Conclusions: Although many believe that policies will lead to an increase in PA among children, the current study’s results showed a lack of alignment between PA and PE policies and teachers’ efforts to increase PA in schools. Teachers and policymakers need to work together to develop policy with more clear and direct language that will translate into increased opportunities for PA in the school setting. Policies may be designed with the best intentions and contain impactful messages, yet, they will be ineffective if they do not stay current and fail to inform educators.