Schools Take Steps to Counter Youth Obesity

美国学校采取措施对付青少年肥胖症（4）

IN THIS ARTICLE: Many American school children are overweight, but now schools are introducing physical fitness programmes to counter the problem of teenage obesity .----Editor

本文简介：美国许多学龄儿童超重，但现在校方正纷纷开设体格保健课程以对付青少年肥胖症问题。－－编者

[19] No one argued his point. And Holt-Hale never forgot the story. It gave her insight into the pockets of opposition--or indifference--that PE advocates often encounter in trying to push for expanded programmes. And it made her recognise how critical it is to be able to show measurable progress in fitness.

[20] In San Bernardino, a dry, dusty city about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, a team of PE specialists used a side-door entrance to turn the school PE programme into a model that has produced quantifiable improvements in children's fitness levels.

[21] In 1989, during teacher contract negotiations, classroom teachers demanded an extra hour of planning time. Physical education advocates made a plea: Why not dedicate the time to physical instruction? The school board agreed. The district hired eight PE specialists and 28 aides to rotate among 39 elementary schools. Today, that's expanded to 25 PE specialists, eight of whom remain at one school full time, and 15 aides, at 42 elementary schools.

[22] This is unusual, since the vast majority of California's elementary students receive PE instruction from classroom teachers who are not PE specialists, says Don Morris, a professor of kinesiology and health promotion at California State University in Pomona. He has studied the state's PE prograrmmes for two decades. The state requires that elementary students have 200 minutes of PE every 10 days, which averages out to 20 minutes a day. But that can also mean having PE for an hour just a few times a week. "So, we have a state mandate on doing PE, with a teaching credential that says you can teach it, even if you've only had one course in how to teach it," Morris says.

[23] Not so with the PE specialists in San Bernardino. Here, they are specially trained, with credentials in PE content. "All have a unique desire to teach elementary physical education--and, in the state of California, that's rare", says Scott Kerby, a middle-school vice principal who oversaw the programme here until a few years ago.

[24] The programme costs the district US $ 1. 3 million, according to Judy White, assistant superintendent for student services. School fitness statistics, she says, show that ifs money well spent.

[19]谁也没对他的观点进行反驳。霍尔特-黑尔没法把这个故事从记忆中抹去，它使她看透了反对者或者说冷漠者中的一些势力----那是体育倡导者们在试图推动扩大体育课程中经常遇到的。它还使她认识到设法让人了解健康上的明显提高是多么重要。

[20]在洛杉矶以东约6O英里的一个干燥、多尘的城市——桑伯纳迪诺市里，一批体育专家通过“旁门左道”使学校的体育课程成了典范，给孩子们的体格健康水平带来了可观的提高。

［21］在1989年的教师合同协商过程中，任课教师们要求额外增加一小时的计划课时。体育倡导者们提出了一个请求：为什么不把这一时间用在体育训练上？学校董事会表示许肯。这一学区聘用了八名体育专家和28名助手，在39所小学中展开工作。今天，它已扩大到了25名体育专家（其中八名仍在一所学校任专职）和15名助手，在42所小学工作。

[22]波莫纳的加利福尼亚州立大学运动学和健康促进教授唐·莫里斯说，这非同寻常，因为大多数加利福尼亚的小学生是由非体育专家的任课教师授课的。他已对该州的体育课程作了20年的研究。该州要求，小学生每十天中应有200分钟的体育活动，平均每天为20分钟。但这也意味着一星期能上几次一小时的体育课。“因此说，在体育教学上我们有州的规定，老师只需一张证明你有能力任教的教学证书，哪怕你只学过一门有关如何教体育的课程，”莫里斯说。

[23]桑伯纳迪诺的体育专家们的情况并非如此。这里，他们都受过专门训练，持有体育方面的证书。“人人都怀有从事小学体育教学的非凡愿望——在加利福尼亚，那是少有的，”一位直到几年前还在从事该地体育课程监督的中学副校长，斯科特·克尔比说道。

[24]据负责学生管理工作的副主管朱迪·怀特说，这门课程花去了该学区130万美元。她说，学校的健康统计数字表明，这钱花得值。

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