Publication Details
Hands, B. P.
(2013).
Physical activity, physical fitness or physical education: Are we betting on the wrong horse?.
Active and Healthy Lifestyle Magazine, 20 (2), 5-7.
Abstract
If you read the daily newspaper, it is highly likely there will an article on the importance of physical activity. A recent survey I undertook showed that on some weeks up to 25 articles with physical activity as a key word were published in mainstream Australian papers. A key word search of peer reviewed journals in Academic Search Premier reveals a similar pattern-with up to 30,000 articles having the word physical activity in the abstract. This is a relatively recent phenomenon. The number of published articles about physical activity related studies has grown astronomically compared to two other important terms, physical fitness and physical education. So why has this happened? Has this impacted on support for our learning area, physical education? In this article I will argue that we, as a community, have lost sight of one of the main reasons we need to be active (to build physical fitness) and do not adequately support a key pathway to lifetime physical activity (physical education). I suggest we are betting on the wrong horse.
Keywords
physical activity, physical fitness, physical education
