Wouldn't it be great if there were a magic pill --- available to everyone, with no co-pays and no deductibles --- that prevents obesity and reduces its associated risks of diabetes, heart disease and depression?
In fact there is such a remedy. The magical medicine is physical activity.
As Gov. Sonny Perdue visits Shiloh Elementary School in Gwinnett County this week to launch the Georgia SHAPE Partnership, Georgia's statewide commitment to improving the physical fitness of students, it is critical that parents, students and teachers --- not just P.E. teachers --- understand all the benefits of exercise.
The direct benefits of physical activity and physical fitness are easy to see. Clothes fit better. We have more energy.
The benefits to brain cells are not so easy to see, but they are there. When we move our body enough to increase physical fitness, we are building new brain cells and repairing old ones.
"The impact exercise has on the growing brain is unparalleled," says Dr. Kenneth Cooper, founder of The Cooper Clinic and the father of the physical fitness movement.
Studying millions of students, Cooper has shown how physically fit students are more likely to have good attendance, perform better on tests and be less likely to have disciplinary referrals.
Cooper is the creative force behind a widely used fitness assessment called FITNESSGRAM, which Georgia has adopted thanks to the SHAPE Act legislation.
With help from the state Department of Education, the Georgia Children's Health Alliance, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and others, five school districts --- Gwinnett, Hall, White, Lowndes and Bibb --- will pilot the fitness test this year. The assessment is to roll out statewide next fall.
Last year FITNESSGRAM was used to assess the fitness levels of 15 million students in 50 states and 27 countries. The National Football League's PLAY 60 campaign has joined forces with FITNESSGRAM to help millions of students engage in physical activity for at least 60 minutes a day, and a grant from NFL Charities is helping more than 1,100 schools in Atlanta and other NFL communities acquire FITNESSGRAM free.
FITNESSGRAM is the tool of choice because it provides authentic tests that focus on muscle strength, flexibility and endurance. The test does not promote a particular body type or reward athletic skill.
In fact, FITNESSGRAM results show a hard truth: There are slim children who are not physically fit and some hefty kids who are.
FITNESSGRAM provides a fitness measure for each child, just as other tests document math or science scores. The goal is for each kid to become fit enough to score in the "Healthy Fitness Zone," the range where Cooper finds the link back to the positive student outcomes. The SHAPE Act puts these results into the hands of parents and students and challenges us to improve the fitness levels of Georgia's children.
"Our culture treats the mind and body as if they are separate entities, and I want to reconnect the two," says Dr. John Ratey, author of "SPARK: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain." He explains that "exercise unleashes a cascade of neurochemicals and growth factors . . . physically bolstering the brain's infrastructure."
Kaamel Nuri with the Metro Atlanta YMCA sees the connection. With a grant from the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation, Nuri is helping 10 elementary schools improve young people's fitness levels through year-round organized physical activity programs. "We build the brain cells," he says, "so teachers can fill them."
Penelope McPhee is president of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation in Atlanta.
Copyright 2010 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution