Is there one thing school children could do each day that will make them smarter and healthier? Mike May, PHIT America, says, YES! Give them daily P.E. at school.”

On today’s Indy Style, Mike shares how the academic benefits of physical activity breaks for students are numerous, but while the benefits of exercise are well publicized, rarely do we hear about the negative side effects of physical inactivity – until now, thanks to PHIT America.  

While watching a newly released 28-minute PHIT America documentary – Creating Healthier & Smarter Kids:  The Power of P.E. –  listen to comments about the importance of physical activity from a medical doctor, school leaders, classroom teachers, P.E. professionals, parents, and young students.  In this video — viewable at Videos.PHITAmerica.org – you will learn how P.E. and physical activity breaks during the school day stimulate a better learning environment for students.  

In addition to the 28-minute story, there’s a five-minute version of the video, immediately below the longer video.  These are ‘must-see’ videos, especially for parents and grandparents of school-age children, and school administrators.

The national figures on physical activity indicate that two-thirds of U.S. children are not active to healthy standards and 48% of all high schools in the U.S. have no P.E.  Daily P.E. classes in our schools will help reverse physical inactivity rates in the U.S., which exceed 82 million people.
Education leaders say the academic benefits of physical activity during the school day are crystal clear.

Currently, many schools in the U.S. provide the bare minimum of P.E. to their students.  That must change.  And, again, PHIT America is committed to lobbying for that change.

Since 2015, PHIT America and its partner Kids in the Game have been distributing funds to elementary school P.E. programs in the form of PHIT America GO! Grants, which range from $1,000-$5,000 per school.  To date, more than 600 GO! Grants – totaling $1.4 million — have been distributed to schools around the U.S., which have impacted more than 300,000 students.  And, more GO! Grants are on the way – with the help of the general public.

With this 28-minute video, PHIT America is educating the general public about the magnitude of physical inactivity among school children and inviting viewers — especially parents and grandparents — to be a part of the solution and donate to PHIT America to help fund more GO! Grants to more schools in order to generate more support for P.E.  Donations to PHIT America can be made by texting PHITKids to 50155 or by visiting PHITKids.org.  Those donations will become PHIT America GO! Grants.

Founded in January 2013, PHIT America is a non-profit campaign focused on overcoming the severe ramifications of the ‘Inactivity Pandemic’ through four strategic approaches – education, supporting school-based activity programs, a national event, and advocating – which will get Americans, especially our youth, more active, fit and healthy. Companies or individuals interested in helping PHIT America fight the ‘Inactivity Pandemic’ should contact PHIT America at Alliance@PHITAmerica.org.  For more information about PHIT America, visit www.PHITAmerica.org.