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 Researchers conducted an online survey of more than 1,000 adults,
ages 18 to 45, across 46 states about their best and worst memories
of their PE experiences, as well as their attitude about physical
activity now. The 392 male and 636 female respondents were recruited
by an internet service for monetary compensation.
"Memories of enjoyment of PE . . . were the most substantial
correlates of present-day attitudes and intentions for physical
activity," the investigators report in the Translational Journal of
the American College of Sports Medicine.
For example, they found, rarely being chosen first for team sports
in gym class was "strongly related to the amount of time spent
sitting on weekdays and on the weekend" in adulthood.
Thirty-four percent of respondents reported feeling embarrassed by
their childhood PE experience.
The next most frequent "worst memory" theme was lack of enjoyment in
PE activities, reported by 18 percent.
People's best memories of PE class included receiving positive
recognition from peers or teachers regarding their performance.
"The most surprising thing about our research was the vividness of
(memories and the) emotional impact. This tells us these were
transformative experiences," senior author Panteleimon Ekkekakis of
Iowa State University in Ames told Reuters Health by phone.
People's gym-class memories "had some degree of influence on their
self-perception and . . . the degree of their sedentariness," said
Ekkekakis.
However, he stressed, the association was only "modest at best."
"We're not saying the experiences are deterministic and that one
negative experience is going to determine a person's physical
activity level for the rest of their life," he said.
Christopher Hersl, vice president of programs and professional
development at the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE
America), who was not involved in the study, told Reuters Health by
phone, "Our number one goal is to turn out children that are
healthy, happy and productive. If our instructional practices are
causing any of these things not to happen then we need to reconsider
our practices."
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Carolyn Buenaflor, associate director of Cedars Sinai Healthy
Habits, a community benefit program that partners with school
districts within Los Angeles to provide nutrition education and
physical activity programs, told Reuters Health by phone that
children today might not have the same PE experiences as their
parents did.
Buenaflor said many of the elimination games children and
adolescents used to play in gym class have been replaced with
non-elimination games. PE classes also play more group games than
sports games where one student at a time shined or did not.
"Getting in front of the class and kicking the ball is not the best
thing to foster enjoyment and physical exercise," said Buenaflor,
who was not involved in the research,
People's recollections of past experiences may not be accurate, the
authors acknowledge. And this kind of study can't prove that early
experiences affected later attitudes.
Still, they point out, "If improvements in PE experiences could
inspire even small increases in (physical activity), millions could
derive additional health benefits."
It seems clear, they conclude, "that decades-old arguments
concerning the focus on sport in PE programs and . . . fitness
testing should be revisited. (With further research) it may be
possible to transform PE into a professional field that closely
adheres to the (evidence and) . . . that welcomes psychological best
practices for the benefit of children and public health."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2NHBDVn Translational Journal of the American
College of Sports Medicine, online August 22, 2018.
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