Physical Education viewed through the Lens of Healthspan, Part One – General Concepts

Gym Class – the Red Headed Stepchild

Let’s get right into it: The importance of physical education is grossly under appreciated. “Gym class” is the proverbial “red headed stepchild” of primary and secondary education – “someone or something that is not fully accepted or wanted.” How many high schoolers are sent out to spend gym class aimlessly wondering around the track with no goals, milestones or focus?

Physical Education has Failed

The argument is easily made that physical education in our school systems has failed – obesity and metabolic disease are spiraling out of control for youth and young adults. Obesity and metabolic disease adversely impact the risks of cardiovascular disease, cancer, autoimmune conditions and cognitive decline. There is a coming tsunami of health issues ahead.

Reframing Our Perspective for Physical Education

Through what lens should physical education best be viewed? Is there a way to “retire” the general concept of “gym class” and reorient physical education with a simple focus on critical goals? Having all efforts focused on an overarching primary and secondary goal should make all the other downstream pieces fall into place.

Lifespan and Healthspan

So let’s consider two simple terms that deal with measuring ultimate results: Lifespan is the period of time that a person is alive. Healthspan is a newer term, defined as the length of time that the person is healthy—not just alive.

Lifespan in the U.S. is dropping. Healthspan is fairing even worse.

Longevity leap: mind the healthspan gap states that despite modern medicine historically increasing lifespan by three decades that “parallel healthspan expansion has however not followed, largely impeded by the pandemic of chronic diseases afflicting a growing older population.”

What if we viewed every moment spent on Physical Education in terms of how it directly supports optimizing Lifespan and Healthspan?br>

The Applied Science of Longevity

Physicians focusing on efforts to maximize Lifespan and Healthspan offer encouragement based on simple concepts around general nutrition and exercise. Dr. Peter Attia is a Stanford/Johns Hopkins/NIH-trained physician who focuses his practice on the applied science of longevity, the extension of human life, and well-being. His framework for exercise is built upon four pillars:

• Stability
• Strength
• Aerobic Training, and
• Anaerobic Training

Looking Forward in This Blog Series

We’re going to examine each of these pillars individually as the subject of future blogs. So our next blog in this series will be Physical Education viewed through the Lens of Healthspan, Part Two – Stability.

Until then, we’d encourage you to a critical look at how you currently view physical education. Start by retiring the notion of “gym class” and reevaluate every moment you spend on teaching physical education. Reframe every effort as a critical component to optimizing lifespan and healthspan. As an educator, how well are you meeting those two goals? Focus not on attaining the greater good, but the greatest possible good from your efforts.

Guest Blogger:

Bill Franklin, the CEO of Internet4Classrooms, is our guest blogger this month. He has been on the faculty at The George Washington University, has years of platform instructional experience, was a career Army Special Operations officer and also has decades of experience as a youth sports coach.