By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

In an effort to curb the trend of increasing obesity among New Hampshire's school children, the state Department of Education is requiring school boards to adopt written policies recommending children participate in 30 to 60 minutes of daily physical activity.

Yet with instructional and academic time at a premium throughout New Hampshire's public schools, it's not clear how readily schools will embrace the new rule.

Sixth-grader Michael Sarette, of Goffstown's Mountain View Middle School, does some old-fashioned pullups. (Graphic based on Nicholas Brown Photo)

The policy follows legislation introduced by state Rep. Barbara C. French in 2003 and completed last spring.

"Children are spending less time being active and more time being sedentary, and rates of overweight children have tripled in the last 30 years," said Katherine Rannie, a school health services consultant for the department of education.

The new policy, aimed at fostering "developmentally appropriate daily physical activity," has nine components including the integration of health and physical activity across the school curriculum and encouraging parents and guardians to support children's participation in enjoyable physical activities.

State education officials said no firm timeline is in place for districts to adopt the new policy. And with no funding from the state, the policy can't be a mandate according to New Hampshire constitutional law.

Nonetheless, several area districts have already put versions of the policy into place, and many educators throughout the state see it as a welcome reminder of an growing problem.

Rannie said children are becoming increasingly prone to weight-related health consequences - including obesity, cardiovascular disease, stroke, osteoporosis and type II diabetes - as they enter into adulthood.

"There are certainly not a lot of K through 12 schools that have required daily physical activity in place," said Rannie. "There are a lot of good schools that have good programs, but I think a lot of them can do more."

Armand LaSelva, superintendent of the SAU 15, which serves students from Hooksett, Auburn and Candia, said the state requirement has led school officials to examine physical activity throughout the district.

"We're taking a good long look at what kind of activity our youngsters are getting engaged in now," he said.

LaSelva said the Hooksett school board will review a draft of a policy in November.

Bow Superintendent Kathleen Holt said a comprehensive health and wellness policy for Bow's schools has been in formation over the past two years.

In 2003, the school board sanctioned the Bow Nutrition Committee, composed of administrators, teachers, parents and health professionals, to create the plan.

"We'd already been looking at ways to improve our district," Holt said of the state policy. Holt said the committee is adjusting some of the language in the policy - which aims to cover curriculum, physical activity, fitness and nutrition - to fit with the state rule.

Bow High School has drawn praise for its Building Essential Skills for Tomorrow (BEST) program.

The mandatory three-year program, with an optional fourth year, provides students with a wide range of traditional and nontraditional sporting activities. By a student's junior year, they begin a personal fitness program that includes goal-setting and nutrition.

BEST is just one of many programs throughout area schools that reflects the changing role of physical education in schools over the years.

While many parents may remember a time when a daily physical education class was the norm, school officials are now hard-pressed to squeeze physical activity into an already full school day.

"Maybe physical education hasn't been seen as a core educational responsibility," said Rannie, "and this is asking schools to do a lot, but kids do spend a heck of a lot of time in a school environment."

The Bedford School Board, one of few that has already adopted a policy meeting the state's requirements, also recently adopted a program that guarantees activity throughout the day for the district's elementary school children.

At the request of Bedford School Board Chairman Daniel Sullivan, a group of Bedford educators spent the past summer researching a program called Rechargers.

Bedford Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Assessment Chip McGee said Rechargers are brief exercises - with about 20 designed for each grade - that take place in the academic classroom.

In one exercise called "Litterbug," for example, McGee said students throw a scrap of paper on the floor and are asked to retrieve it with different parts of their bodies, like the backs of their hands or their elbows.

"It's critical to remember that these students have physical, social and emotional needs," said McGee. "Sometimes those can get lost in the academic needs."

Rose LaRochelle-Colby, principal of Goffstown's Mountain View Middle School, testified on behalf of the state legislation as an executive board member of the New Hampshire Association of School Principals.

"We supported it," she said. "Physical activity is something you must have for these children if you're thinking about lifelong wellness."

LaRochelle-Colby said physical health needs to be creatively spread throughout the curriculum. She pointed out a large group of students engaged in music class, each playing a different percussion instrument.

"Even there, they may be sitting down, but they're always moving and using their minds," she said. "It's not all about dribbling a basketball on a court anymore."

Though the face of physical education may be changing to along with cramped school schedules, the fundamental problem still remains.

"I'd love to magically have twice as much time in the day to devote to the education of our kids," said McGee.

Rannie stressed that the goal of the state policy is not to promote traditional physical education classes, but rather to encourage a climate of physical activity and education both within and beyond the school yard.

"To make positive changes, you need everyone to be involved," she said. "It's hard to impact a culture, but this is an attempt to do that in some ways."