Lack of physical education

Lack of physical education is the inadequacy of the provision and effectiveness of exercise and physical activity within modern education.

When physical education fails to meet its goals of providing students with the knowledge base, life habits, and mindset necessary to be physically active throughout their lifetime, it can lead children to adopt a sedentary lifestyle. According a 2010 study by the WHO, 81% of children aged 11–17 worldwide did not meet the minimum recommended exercise guidelines of 60 minutes daily.

Albeit more prevalent in countries of high income, physical inactivity is an international issue that is correlated with an obesity epidemic and negative physical, psychological, and academic consequences in children.

The causes of lack of physical education vary from country to country. These include a shortage in facilities and equipment, a paucity of physical education teachers, large class sizes, and budgetary constraints. In some African countries such as Botswana and Malawi, where children attend school for a minimal amount of time, the budgets allocated for physical education are instead used to concentrate on subjects such as languages and mathematics.

A lack of physical education also arises from cultural views: in parts of Central America (such as the Bahamas) and Asia (such as Pakistan), exercise is seen a form of leisure that should not be featured in academic curriculum. Another example is seen in India, where girls are often discouraged from engaging in sports because such activity is viewed as "unfeminine" for them to become muscular.

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