State laws matter when it comes to school provisions for structured PE and daily PE participation

Abstract

The physical and mental benefits children receive from physical activity have been well documented, and physical education is a key way to ensure that physical activity opportunities are available during the school day. This study evaluates whether state PE laws are associated with school-level practices of requiring structured PE classes and whether students take PE classes daily. State laws were obtained as part of the National Cancer Institute’s Classification of Laws Associated with School Students (CLASS) and were compiled for all 50 states and District of Columbia using Boolean keyword searches in LexisAdvance and WestlawNext. PE time requirements and state daily PE requirements in the laws were subsequently linked to school-required structured PE classes and daily PE in the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS) Principal Survey. Logistic regression analyses were conducted while controlling for grade level, district child poverty rate, district race/ethnicity, school urbanicity, and school size. The state daily PE analysis also controlled for region. Schools located in a state that required at least 90 min of PE per week at the elementary level or 150 min of PE per week at the middle or high school levels had almost seven times higher odds of requiring structured PE. Schools located in a state that required daily participation of PE had almost five times higher odds of at least some students taking PE daily. State policymakers can utilize these findings to promote laws that require time for PE every week, daily if possible.

Implications.

Practice: Schools and physical education teachers can increase the amount of physical education time provided each week to students to ensure that they are at least meeting their state requirements.

Policy: State policymakers may consider adopting laws that require time for physical education every week, daily if possible.

Research: Future research can focus on ways to increase school-level implementation of state laws regarding physical education.

INTRODUCTION

Physical education (PE) in schools has long been regarded by educators, policymakers, and researchers alike as a vital part of a student’s education. PE is designed to develop the knowledge and behaviors for physical activity (PA), physical fitness, and motor skills in students [1]. It serves as the foundation for equipping students to be physically active during the time that they spend at school and beyond [2]. In addition to the beneficial influence of PE in helping children develop skills to maintain a physically active lifestyle, students who are physically active have been shown to perform better academically, to have a greater ability to focus, and to have lower rates of absenteeism [2–4]. Moreover, because research shows that 80% of obese youth become obese adults [5], physically active youth may be on track for a healthier adulthood [6].

As PE presents a primary opportunity for many students to engage in PA during the school day [6–8], advocates have long considered using laws governing PE at schools as a potential mechanism for increasing the amount of time that students spend in PE and PA at school [9–11]. The Institute of Medicine and SHAPE America recommend that elementary students spend 150 min/week in PE (30 min/day), and middle school and high school students spend 225 min/week in PE (45 min/day) [8, 12]. These national recommendations have become of particular interest to policymakers as many work to develop laws that require a specific amount of time for PE. Yet, research indicates that only approximately 30% of high school students nationwide reported attending PE classes all 5 days out of an average school week [13, 14]. The prevalence of going to PE classes on all 5 days was higher among students in 9th grade (42.3%) than 10th grade (30.2%), 11th grade (24.3%), and 12th grade (21.0%) [14]. Nationwide, only 21.6% of 6- to 19-year-old children and adolescents in the United States attained 60 or more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on at least 5 days/week [3].

Studies have shown that students in states with laws specifying PE time requirements have increased PE attendance and time spent in PE [15–18] and that state laws and district policies can influence district-level PE practices, particularly those governing the frequency and duration of PE [15].

This study seeks to build on previous research and examine whether PE laws at the state level are associated with school-level practices of requiring structured PE classes and whether students take PE classes daily. This provides an opportunity to further determine whether state PE laws can strengthen PE-related provisions and practices at schools.

METHODS

State Law Collection

Codified statutes and administrative regulations (collectively referred to as “state laws”) were collected for all 50 states and the District of Columbia using methods of legal epidemiology for the National Cancer Institute’s Classification of Laws Associated with School Students (CLASS; class.cancer.gov) database. Two study authors conducted Boolean keyword searches in two commercial legal databases, LexisAdvance and WestlawNext, to identify relevant laws in effect as of December 31, 2014 (this year was chosen because of the year of PE data linked below). Search terms included variations of text including but not limited to “physical education,” “recess,” “physical activity,” and “recreation” to locate any state laws on the topic of PA before focusing on PE time more specifically.

This study examined requirements in state law regarding PE time and daily PE. Two study authors (E.P.-P. and W.L.) coded all state laws. Laws were double-coded and any discrepancies reviewed and discussed before E.P.-P. determined the master coding. Time for PE was benchmarked against national standards for elementary school (ES) (150 min/week) and middle/high school (225 min/week) [19]. State laws were assigned to one of the following categories for each provision: 0 = no PE time requirement or recommendation; 1 = recommends a PE time requirement or state requirement for physical activity includes an option for PE; 2 = required <60 min/week (ES)/<90 min/week (MS/HS) or unspecified time; 3 = required ≥60 and <90 min/week (ES)/≥90 and <150 min/week (MS/HS); 4 = required ≥90 and <150 min/week (ES)/≥150 and <225 min/week (MS/HS); and 5 = required ≥150 min/week (ES)/≥225 min/week (MS/HS). For purposes of this analysis, schools in a state coded as 4 or 5 for their grade level were compared with those in a state coded as 0–3 for their grade level. Levels 4 and 5 were grouped due to limited prevalence of state laws meeting the benchmark national standards corresponding to level 5 coding. Laws were also scored based on whether or not the law specified daily participation in PE, with 0 = no and 1 = yes.

School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study Data

School-level outcomes were obtained from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS) Principal Survey, which was conducted during the 2014–2015 school year for the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service [20]. The SNMCS data were linked to CLASS data using state geocodes, taking into account the grade level of the school for the grade-level specific CLASS coding. Out of 1,284 eligible schools sampled for SNMCS, a total of 1,282 schools participated in SNMCS, and of those, 1,090 completed the Principal Survey (87.2% weighted response rate), which included a range of questions about school meals and other foods available at school, nutrition education and promotion, wellness, and PE. The weighted data from this survey are nationally representative of all public, noncharter schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program.

This study analyzed data from two questions on the Principal Survey. One asked, “Does your school include structured physical education classes for students?” The response options included “Yes, and it is a requirement,” “Yes, but it is not required,” and “No, school does not offer physical education to any students.” Because hardly any (5) respondents indicated their school does not offer PE, these cases were excluded from the analysis of whether PE was offered. This study examined whether the school included structured PE classes for students that were required. Respondents who answered yes to this question were asked, “Do students take physical education classes daily?” Response options included “Yes, all students,” “Yes, some students,” and “No”; this study examined whether (i) at least some or (ii) all students took PE daily. Responses to this question were recoded to “No” where respondents indicated the school does not offer PE to any students. One school had missing data on control variables, while additional missing data on the two school-level outcome measures left 1,077 and 1,070 schools for analyses of school-required structured PE and at least some students taking PE daily, respectively. The analytical sample was located in 46 states and District of Columbia, only excluding Alaska, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. Descriptive statistics shown later in this article for the analytical sample may differ from statistics shown in the SNMCS Final Report due to differences in the sample for which they were computed [20].

Data Analyses

A logistic regression was computed linking school-required structured PE classes to state PE time requirements. Separate logistic regressions were computed linking at least some and all students taking PE daily to state daily PE requirements. All three models controlled for grade level (elementary, middle, or high school), the district child poverty rate (<20% vs. ≥20%), district race/ethnicity (≥66% white, ≥50% black, ≥50% Hispanic, or other racial/ethnic makeup), school urbanicity (urban, suburban, or rural), and school size (fewer than 500 students, 500–999 students, or 1,000 or more students), based on data from the SNMCS, the National Center for Education Statistics, and the Census Bureau Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates [21–23]. The analysis of daily PE also controlled for region based on Census classifications [24], but that was not possible in the analysis of school-required structured PE classes due to limited variation in that outcome by region. Adjusted prevalence estimates with and without state law were computed from both models. All analyses were conducted in Stata/SE 13.1, taking into account the complex survey design. In all analyses, there were some strata with a single sampling unit; these were treated as certainty units for purposes of computing standard errors.

RESULTS

As of the end of 2014, every state except Hawaii addressed providing PE at all three grade levels in state law. PE was required in every remaining state except for Oklahoma, where it was recommended at the middle and high school levels. The amount of PE time, when required, varied greatly across the states and between grade levels (Table 1). Most often, PE was required with an undefined or minimal time requirement (less than 60 min/week in ES; less than 90 min/week in middle and high school). Six, three, and two states’ laws met the national recommendation for amount of time for PE at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, respectively. Similarly, four states’ laws in ES, five states’ laws in middle school, and two states’ laws in high school addressed providing PE daily (not shown in tables).

Table 1.

Frequency of state laws governing physical education time and frequency

State law provisions	Number of states
	ES	MS	HS
State law requires <90 (ES)/<150 (MS/HS) minutes/week of PE or no requirement	38	45	47
No PE time requirement or recommendation	1	1	1
Recommends a PE time requirement or state requirement for physical activity includes an option for PE	0	1	1
Required <60 min/week (ES)/<90 min/week (MS/HS) or unspecified time	34	39	42
Required ≥60 and <90 min/week (ES)/≥90 and <150 min/week (MS/HS)	3	4	3
State law requires ≥90 (ES)/≥150 (MS/HS) min/week of PE	13	6	4
Required ≥90 and <150 min/week (ES)/≥150 and <225 min/week (MS/HS)	7	3	2
Required ≥150 min/week (ES)/≥225 min/week (MS/HS)	6	3	2
State law requires daily PE	4	5	2

Number of states with each policy provision reported by grade level. N = 50 states and District of Columbia. ES elementary school; MS middle school; HS high school.

Table 2 shows survey-weighted characteristics of the analytical sample. A majority (95.65%) of schools provided the required structured PE classes. Students took PE classes daily in slightly more than half of schools, including 26.53% of schools where all students took PE classes daily. Nearly a third of schools were in a state that required at least 90 min/week of PE (for ESs) or 150 min/week of PE (for middle/high schools). About one-sixth (16.70%) of schools were in a state where state law requires daily participation in PE. Nearly two thirds of schools were at the elementary level. Nearly half of schools were in a school district that was 66% or more white, whereas 45.66% of schools had a district child poverty rate of at least 20%. Most schools were suburban (43.35%) or rural (35.38%), whereas only 21.26% were urban. Nearly half of schools had fewer than 500 students, whereas only 12.08% of schools had 1,000 or more students. Schools were distributed across all four regions.

Table 2.

Survey-weighted characteristics of analytical sample of schools from SNMCS principal survey

Variable	%
School-level outcomes
School requires structured physical education classes	95.65
Students take physical education classes daily
No	44.24
Yes, some students	29.23
Yes, all students	26.53
State law
State law requires ≥90 (ES)/≥150 (MS/HS) minutes/week of PE	31.66
State law requires daily participation in PE	16.70
Control variables
Grade level
Elementary	59.91
Middle	18.05
High	22.03
District race/ethnicity
≥66% White	46.56
≥50% Black	8.06
≥50% Hispanic	12.38
Other	33.00
District child poverty rate
<20%	54.34
≥20%	45.66
School urbanicity
Urban	21.26
Suburban	43.35
Rural	35.38
School size
Small (fewer than 500 students)	48.55
Medium (500–999 students)	39.36
Large (1,000 or more students)	12.08
Region
West	20.87
Midwest	28.33
South	35.34
Northeast	15.47

N = 1,070–1,082 schools, due to item-specific missing data. PE physical education; ES elementary school; MS middle school; HS high school.

Regression results in Table 3 show that being located in a state with laws that require at least 90 min/week of PE for ES or 150 min/week for middle school and high school was associated with nearly seven times the odds of school-level required structured PE classes (odds ratio [OR]: 6.93, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.33, 36.15). High schools had lower odds of school-level required structured PE classes compared with ESs (OR: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.09, 0.91). Other school, district, and SFA-level characteristics were not significantly associated with this outcome. Without this state law requirement, the adjusted prevalence of schools requiring structured PE classes was 94.4%, compared with 99.1% with a state law.

Table 3.

Logistic regression results for the association between state law physical education time requirements and school-required structured physical education classes

Variable	OR (95% CI)
State law requires ≥90 (ES)/≥150 (MS/HS) min/week of PE	6.93* (1.33, 36.15)
Grade level
Elementary	Referent
Middle	0.46 (0.15, 1.38)
High	0.29* (0.09, 0.91)
District race/ethnicity
≥66% White	Referent
≥50% Black	1.45 (0.14, 14.72)
≥50% Hispanic	1.11 (0.29, 4.28)
Other	0.91 (0.33, 2.52)
District child poverty rate
<20%	Referent
≥20%	1.22 (0.55, 2.69)
School urbanicity
Urban	Referent
Suburban	2.00 (0.50, 7.89)
Rural	1.88 (0.46, 7.74)
School size
Small (fewer than 500 students)	0.83 (0.21, 3.26)
Medium (500–999 students)	0.90 (0.32, 2.56)
Large (1,000 or more students)	Referent
Adjusted prevalence of school-required structured PE classes
Without state law	94.4%
With state law	99.1%

N = 1,077 schools. PE physical education; ES elementary school; MS middle school; HS high school.

*p < .05.

Results in Table 4 show that being located in a state with laws that require daily participation in PE was associated with nearly five times the odds of at least some students taking PE daily (OR: 4.85, 95% CI: 2.58, 9.12) and nearly six times the odds of all students taking PE daily (OR: 5.89, 95% CI: 3.46, 10.02). Without a state law, the adjusted prevalence of at least some students taking PE daily was 50.9%, compared with 77.7% with a state law requiring daily participation in PE and the adjusted prevalence of all students taking PE daily was 20.5% without a state law when compared with 56.5% with a daily PE requirement law. Middle schools (OR: 5.05, 95% CI: 3.29, 7.75) and high schools (OR: 12.70, 95% CI: 6.78, 23.79) had higher odds of at least some students taking PE daily, compared with ESs. Schools in majority Hispanic districts, compared with districts that were at least 66% white (OR: 2.94, 95% CI: 1.18, 7.28), those in a district with a child poverty rate of at least 20% (OR: 1.80, 95% CI: 1.06, 3.05), and those in rural as opposed to urban areas (OR: 3.28, 95% CI: 1.55, 6.93) all had higher odds of at least some students taking PE daily. Schools in the Northeast, compared with the West (OR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.17, 0.87), had lower odds of at least some students taking PE daily. Statistically significant covariate relationships with all students taking PE daily were similar (albeit of smaller magnitude or significance) to those presented herein and in Table 4 for at least some students taking PE daily with the following notable exceptions: there were lower odds of all students taking PE daily at the high school level when compared with the elementary level (OR: 0.42, 95% CI: 0.23, 0.76) and there were no statistically significant child poverty rate or regional differences in the odds of all students taking PE.

Table 4.

Logistic regression results for the association between state law requiring daily participation in physical education and students taking physical education daily

Variable	At least some students taking PE daily	All students taking PE daily
	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)
State law requires daily participation in PE	4.85*** (2.58, 9.12)	5.89*** (3.46, 10.02)
Grade level
Elementary	Referent	Referent
Middle	5.05*** (3.29, 7.75)	1.67* (1.08, 2.58)
High	12.70*** (6.78, 23.79)	0.42** (0.23, 0.76)
District race/ethnicity
≥66% White	Referent	Referent
≥50% Black	0.94 (0.39, 2.27)	1.01 (0.39, 2.63)
≥50% Hispanic	2.94* (1.18, 7.28)	2.58* (1.15, 5.79)
Other	0.81 (0.47, 1.40)	0.82 (0.47, 1.41)
District child poverty rate
<20%	Referent	Referent
≥20%	1.80* (1.06, 3.05)	1.40 (0.81, 2.41)
School urbanicity
Urban	Referent	Referent
Suburban	1.77+ (0.95, 3.31)	1.19 (0.64, 2.19)
Rural	3.28** (1.55, 6.93)	2.06* (1.01, 4.21)
School size
Small (fewer than 500 students)	0.71 (0.35, 1.41)	0.87 (0.47, 1.62)
Medium (500–999 students)	0.82 (0.45, 1.50)	1.12 (0.64, 1.95)
Large (1,000 or more students)	Referent	Referent
Region
West	Referent	Referent
Midwest	0.78 (0.37, 1.63)	0.82 (0.42, 1.61)
South	0.86 (0.42, 1.77)	0.83 (0.45, 1.53)
Northeast	0.38* (0.17, 0.87)	0.65 (0.28, 1.50)
Adjusted prevalence of students taking PE daily
Without state law	50.9%	20.5%
With state law	77.7%	56.5%

N = 1,070 schools. CI confidence interval; PE physical education; OR odds ratio.

⁺  p < .10; *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

DISCUSSION

Experts agree that 60 min of physical activity per day is important for children and adolescents [3, 25] and that PE is a key component to both achieving that goal and gaining the knowledge to practice lifelong healthy behaviors [1–3, 8, 26]. Previous studies have found that state laws and district policies matter when it comes to the frequency and duration of PE and its impact on physical activity in children [15–18]. However, at least one study based on 2005 CLASS data did not find an association between states’ codified law and school PE at the high school grade level [15]. The findings presented here provide an important update, in particular utilizing the same state law coding scheme but almost 10 years later. Moreover, at least one study has found that daily PE can improve the health outcomes of at-risk middle school youth through improved physical fitness [27]. This is the first study to our knowledge to look specifically at the implications of state laws requiring the provision of daily PE.

Although almost every state requires PE for students, the amount of time that is required varies greatly within state laws. In particular, most states require either an undefined or minimal amount of time for PE. However, when a longer PE time requirement is in place (90 min/week in ES, 150 min/week in MS/HS), there are higher odds that schools will require structured PE than when there is not such a requirement. This reaches beyond having a law in place and shows that the language itself has the potential to change the school environment, as nonspecific requirements in PE laws have been shown to be the equivalent to having no law at all [16, 18].

Although most states require PE, there are 34, 39, and 42 states’ laws at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, respectively, that require only a minimal or unspecified amount of PE time. Previous studies have pointed to large class sizes, lack of funding, and inadequate facilities as barriers to providing PE regularly [28–31]. However, national organizations such as SHAPE America [19], the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [26, 32], and the National Physical Activity Plan [3] have historically recommended designated time for PE on a weekly basis, and this study shows that including more specific and required language in state-level policy can help schools start to implement the practice as well. Additional policy changes, such as state-mandated plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act [33], may help push PE requirements, training, and funding levels to receive greater priority on the state policymaking agenda.

In addition to examining PE time requirements, this study further contributes to the literature by linking another component of PE state laws—whether the laws require daily participation in PE—to schools having at least some students taking PE daily. Results show that being located in a state with laws that require daily participation in PE was associated with nearly five times the odds of at least some students taking PE daily and nearly six times the odds of all students taking PE daily, thereby offering more opportunities for students to be physically active.

State policymakers can utilize the results of this study when considering policies seeking to ensure that school practices support students’ health, by promoting PE. In particular, to increase the odds that schools require structured PE, and that PE is offered daily, there are a few policy opportunities that exist. First, state lawmakers can adopt strong laws that definitely require PE and provide PE for an amount of time that meets national recommendations (150 min/week in ES, 225 min/week in MS/HS). Second, state lawmakers can adopt policies that require that PE be provided daily. Finally, although not evaluated here, to ensure that the PE provided benefits children physically as well as adds to their knowledge of the benefits of physical activity, policymakers can review laws on the topic of who is providing PE and ensure that role is filled by qualified physical education teachers.

Limitations

This study utilized only codified statutory (legislative) and administrative (regulatory) law and did not analyze informal policies that may be on file with State Boards of Education (e.g., Hawaii) [34]. Codified laws, unlike noncodified laws and guidance documents, are those that actually carry the force of the law [35, 36]. In addition, state law data were tied to survey responses from school principals, and so the usual limitations in terms of the potential for overstatements of perceived “positive” survey responses may exist. Also, because the analyses in this article are cross-sectional, they can only establish associations, not causality. Finally, the estimated association between state law and school-level-required structured PE classes, while statistically significant, was imprecise, probably due to the high prevalence (95.65%) of this outcome.

CONCLUSION

This study presents evidence that state laws are associated with the actual provision of structured PE to students by schools. Laws with longer specified amounts of PE time required for students were associated with higher odds of schools in those states providing and requiring structured PE classes, while requiring daily participation in PE was associated with higher odds of at least some students taking PE daily. In light of the importance of daily PE and PA for youth, results for this study are particularly relevant for policymakers as many work to promote students’ health.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Funding: This study was funded by the National Cancer Institute (subcontracts from Westat to UIC, #6048-S05 and #6632.01.S04) and the United States Department of Agriculture (cooperative agreement number USDA-FNS-OPS-SWP-15-IL-01).

Conflict of Interest: No conflicts of interest to report.

Human Rights: This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent: This study does not involve human participants and informed consent was therefore not required.

Welfare of Animals: This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.