By Jim McLean
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, Jan. 17
Legislation requiring Kansas public schools to administer fitness tests to students was introduced Wednesday by the House Education Committee.
Rep. Pat Colloton, R-Leawood, requested the bill as a first step in assessing the childhood obesity problem in the state.
“We already have plenty of nationwide data, but we don”t have it for Kansas,” Colloton said. “And we want any physical education requirement we come up with to be tailored to what we need.”
Nationally, the childhood obesity rate has tripled over the last 30 years among children ages 6 to 11 and doubled among adolescents ages 12 to 19, according to the Institute of Medicine.
The Colloton proposal requires schools to administer fitness tests which must include a body mass index (BMI) calculation to all public school students in grades 4, 7, 9 and 12. Schools would then report the results to the Kansas Department of Education, which would share them with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Some other states that require BMI calculations as a way of determining the number of overweight children in the school population identify the students and require that the test results be sent to parents. The Colloton proposal would not identify individual students nor require test results be sent to parents.
The legislation also directs the Kansas State Board of Education to work with KDHE to develop physical fitness standards and objectives. Colloton said those standards and objectives could then be used in the future to develop a physical education requirement for Kansas middle and high school students.
Finally, the bill would require school districts across the state to compile reports on the number of certified physical education teachers they employ and the amount of time they spend teaching physical education.
Colloton said she believes the bill stands a good chance of passing because it only requires the collection of data and doesn”t yet impose a physical education requirement on students.
“I think it has a very good chance. The speaker is behind it,” she said, referring to House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls.
Jim McLean is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. He can be reached at
jmclean@khi.org
or at 785-233-5443, ext. 110.