US schools should make physical education a core subject, Institute of Medicine says

To promote lifelong fitness and combat the growing burden of chronic diseases because of inactivity, US schools should make physical education a core subject and take a “whole of school” approach to ensure that students engage in at least 60 minutes’ physical activity per day of vigorous or moderate intensity, a report from the US Institute of Medicine has said.

The report was prepared by the institute’s Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.1

Although physical inactivity is …