Kids are getting fatter.

And whilst I certainly do not endorse kids being measured and weighed regularly at school, I do think they should be exercising regularly – every day actually.

There were some interesting articles doing the rounds in the UK last week regarding the effectiveness of Physical Education lessons with regard to keeping kids fit. It’s worthwhile keeping one eye on what’s going on the UK, as more often than not, their ideas tend to inform our educational policy on some level.

The BBC reported that Michael Wilshaw, the boss Ofsted (The national body for inspecting schools) said, “We found there often wasn’t enough physical, strenuous activity in PE lessons.”

This would imply that PE is about improving health and fitness.

The report stated that most schools provided at least two hours of PE per week for students aged 5-14, but given that most experts believe that kids need at least 60mins exercise per day this falls well short of any meaningful contribution to health and fitness.

So perhaps PE actually about developing sporting technique?

Apparently not, because the report lamented the fact that students were, “often prevented from exercising for extended periods because teachers interrupted their learning or took too long to introduce new tasks.”

But this is due to the content-heavy curriculum. With only two hours per week to deliver it, teachers have to do a lot of teaching to address their outcomes. The reason for so many interruptions is to correct technique, introduce skill progressions etc.

The report also found very few schools had adapted PE programmes to deal with the needs of overweight and obese pupils.

I know this is in the UK. But the argument is the same here. Is Physical Education about sporting prowess or health and fitness. They are not one in the same.

The Australian Team’s performance at the London Olympics led to many high profile people calling for more sport in schools.

It will be interesting to see how schools meet society’s expectation that they produce fit, healthy well-adjusted kids, who can slot a footy over the sticks from 50 yards out or play a classic cover drive all along the floor.

And do this with only a lesson or two (at most) a week.

Author: Dan Haesler, he is a teacher, consultant, and speaker at the Mental Health & Wellbeing of Young People seminars. He was an advisory PE teacher in Manchester, UK before moving to Australia. He writes for the Sydney Morning Herald and blogs at http://danhaesler.com/ and tweets at @danhaesler