Movement, Nourishment & Active Living

I played sports growing up and the highlight of my school day was being on a court or field.  The emphasis at the time seemed to focus on checking a PE box more than the purpose of what we needed it.  Even more emphasis was on winning.  The more wins a school had, the most accolades it got from the community.  And if you did not play a sport, you had “PE” or physical education which was not all that physical.

The Obama administration (2009-2017) brought childhood obesity and physical activity into the spotlight with the former first lady’s “Let’s Move” initiative (2010).  According to their website, "To meet our goal, we must accelerate implementation of successful strategies that will prevent and combat obesity. Such strategies include updating child nutrition policies in a way that addresses the best available scientific information, ensuring access to healthy, affordable food in schools and communities, as well as increasing physical activity and empowering parents and caregivers with the information and tools they need to make good choices for themselves and their families. They will help our children develop lifelong healthy habits, ensuring they reach their greatest potential toward building a healthier and more prosperous America."

Great idea, but it is not a simple idea.  It will take three groups that normally do not work together, to create a proactive plan.  With a continued need for intervention, researchers, designers, and school administrations must address long-term behavior.  This initiative must address the environment and community characteristics as a primary driver.  Rural communities have different needs than urban.  Less affluent communities have different needs compared to their wealthier counterparts.  And on an individual basis, it would be an injustice to assume the needs of one student are the same as another.  This is one area the “Let’s Move” campaign missed. 

Educational learning has evolved over the last two decades.  We are seeing more alternative classroom set-up, course load, and teaching styles.  There is no reason we cannot take the same approach with physical and nutritional education.  It is our responsibility as designers to provide action plans to our clients, using the appropriate research, to guide our clients in understanding the importance of these additional spaces.  The gym does not have to be the only place for physical education.  A classroom / lab is not the only place to learn about food.  If designers can use their expertise to find space efficiencies in other areas, we can reduce the additional square footage.   Courses specializing in nutrition, gardening, movement, etc are just as relevant in public school system as they are in charter, STEM, or other specialize educational systems.

Our clients need to be reminded that the public-school system is more than math, science, and English.  The role of the educational system is to provide students with relevant and useful information that will provide a fundamental basis as they graduate and enter adulthood. Failure to provide the most basic needs, is a disservice to the student.