Battling Obesity: Maybe More Colleges Should Consider Making Phys Ed Mandatory

As obesity rates rise among adolescents, teens, and college-age kids, so do calls for increased levels of exercise. But despite this trend, a minority of colleges and universities require physical education courses, a U.S. study has found. That’s a big difference from the 1920s, when nearly all colleges required physical education. Researchers examined data from 354 randomly selected four-year universities and colleges going back to 1920, when 97 percent of students had to take physical education. Today – when 34 percent of adolescents and teens are overweight, and 17 percent are obese – that number is at an all-time low of 39 percent.