SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 11

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

Mimi Stewart

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO COLLECT CURRENT DATA ON THE STATUS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PHYSICAL EDUCATION TO DEVELOP A PLAN FOR INCREASED WEEKLY PHYSICAL EDUCATION INSTRUCTION.

     WHEREAS, in 2015, the national center for health statistics reported that more than seventeen percent of children in the United States were obese, an increase of nearly two percent over a ten-year period; and

     WHEREAS, research shows that people who are obese in childhood are far more likely to be obese in adulthood, thus increasing their risk for adverse health effects, such as heart disease and diabetes, and affecting their eligibility for employment in certain jobs; and

     WHEREAS, the United States department of health and human services recommends that children and adolescents get at least sixty minutes of physical activity daily, which should include equal parts vigorous aerobic activity, muscle-strengthening activity and bone-strengthening activity; and

     WHEREAS, student data from a 2011 New Mexico youth risk and resiliency survey of high school students reveal that only twenty-eight and one-half percent of students attend physical education classes daily; and

     WHEREAS, the 2016 session of the New Mexico legislature assembled a task force of experts in elementary education, health and wellness and physical education pedagogy, as well as members of the legislative education study committee, to evaluate the feasibility of requiring a minimum of one hundred fifty minutes of physical education per school week; and

     WHEREAS, the task force found that research indicates that physical activity is a better approach than nutrition alone in preventing obesity and type two diabetes in children; and

     WHEREAS, the task force also found that students who are physically active tend to have better grades, attendance and cognitive performance than students who are inactive because exercise increases brain activity and improves memory; and

     WHEREAS, state standards require elementary school students to participate in physical education; and

     WHEREAS, legislative education study committee staff found that appropriations made in fiscal years 2007 and 2008 provided enough funding for only about one-half of the elementary school programs in New Mexico and that approximately twenty-two million dollars ($22,000,000) would be needed for full funding of elementary school physical education programs statewide; and

     WHEREAS, the development of an effective plan for increasing weekly physical education in New Mexico public schools continues to require specific information;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the public education department and the department of health be requested to work with the legislative education study committee to answer essential questions related to establishing an effective plan for increased weekly physical education in the state's elementary schools; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the public education department be requested to collect and report information to the legislative education study committee about the frequency of elementary school students' attendance in physical education classes, distinguishing those that offer classes daily, weekly or biweekly; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the public education department be requested to report information to the legislative education study committee about the New Mexico elementary schools that receive funding for physical education and the amount of funding they receive; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the public education department and department of health be requested to report to the legislative education study committee by November 1, 2017; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretaries of public education and health, the chair of the legislative education study committee and the director of the legislative education study committee.

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