PE Promotes Active Lifestyle Among Adolescents, Study Finds

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill say they have found concrete evidence to back up what child-health experts have known intuitively for years: Students who do not participate in regular physical education or community recreation programs are far more likely to become couch potatoes.

While the evidence supports a critical role for physical education in school, the researchers found, the overwhelming majority of middle and high school students are not enrolled in PE courses. That low level of participation may be particularly critical for poor and minority students, who often also lack recreational opportunities outside of school.

Inactivity has been found to put children and adults at greater risk of obesity...