December 2011 Archives

A federal appeals court upheld a Kentucky rule last week that prevents private school student-athletes from receiving merit-based scholarships that cover more than 25 percent of the cost of their tuition, dismissing claims about the rule's unconstitutionality.

Four parents of private school students filed suit against the Kentucky High School Athletic Association in 2009, alleging that Bylaw 13 forces students to choose between participating in school sports and getting financial assistance.

In the ruling, filed Dec. 21, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that the rule "only restricts the amount and type of financial aid that a student can receive and retain KHSAA athletic eligibility."

"The fundamental right of parents to control the education of their children does not extend to a right to demand that their children be allowed to participate without restrictions in extracurricular sports," the court ruled.

The court's decision upholds an earlier ruling by the U.S. District Court of Western Kentucky.

By the KHSAA's definition, merit-based scholarships are based solely on academic or test performance and are available to the entire student body. Factoring in athletic ability with scholarships is strictly prohibited.

Julian Tackett, commissioner of the KHSAA, told The Courier-Journal that the rules were put in place before the start of the 2007-08 school year to "help address perception issues" and to ensure that private schools weren't effectively paying recruits to attend.

There is no limit on need-based aid for student-athletes, under KHSAA rules. The 25 percent tuition cap strictly applies to merit-based scholarships.

Student-athletes are also prohibited by the KHSAA from receiving any financial aid from somewhere "not under the custody and control of the member school or its governing board."

"The 25% cap on merit-based aid may not be a perfect rule, and there might indeed be better methods of preventing the harm of improper recruitment, but a perfect, well-tailored rule is not required," the court wrote in its ruling.

Teddy Gordon, the lawyer representing the parents who sued the KHSAA, told The Courier-Journal that they want the case heard before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Two of the students in the lawsuit were allegedly forced to turn down merit-based scholarships to stay eligible for KHSAA athletics.

The third student, an 8th grader, allegedly lost her athletic eligibility in Kentucky when she accepted a merit-based scholarship from an organization outside of the school's control. The final student in the case, a 9th grader, allegedly lost her eligibility after accepting merit-based financial aid that exceeded 25 percent of her tuition costs.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 2:32 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

It's pretty safe to call 2011 "The Year of Concussions" in youth sports, but based on this blog's readership trends, physical education made a resurgence, too.

As is tradition around this time of year, we EdWeek bloggers like to see which blog posts got the most attention in 2011. It's no surprise to see concussions near the top of this blog's list, given how much I've written about the issue this year. (Nearly 50 posts in 2011, by my count.)

But, somewhat to my surprise, the three most-read Schooled in Sports posts this year were about physical education and physical fitness, not concussions.

Instead of going through each of the 10 most-read posts, let's take a larger look at the phys. ed. and youth-concussion news that we'll remember from 2011.

Physical Education Makes a Comeback

This blog's most widely-read post of the year focused on a study that found a positive correlation between phys. ed./recess mandates (from the state- and district-level) and school-based physical activity time. Ironically, later that week, I wrote about a Florida lawmaker who's attempting to have the state's phys. ed. requirement for middle schoolers abolished.

Trailing not far behind was a post focusing on the Lincoln, Neb., school system, where students who passed the district's physical were significantly more likely to pass the state's math and reading tests.

It's no secret that many schools were chopping phys. ed. and after-school sports to balance their budgets over the past few years. But after this year, it appears that momentum may finally be swinging in the other direction, due in no small part to potential academic benefits for students. (Not to mention, of course, the ongoing fight against this country's youth-obesity epidemic.)

For proof, look no further than the U.S. Department of Education. Funding for the federal Carol M. White Physical Education Program will remain flat at nearly $80 million in this upcoming fiscal year, under the budget approved by Congress earlier this month.

I'd be remiss to not note the fifth most popular post of the year, one based on a "South Park" episode that linked phys. ed. to the Occupy Wall Street movement, all while making fun of No Child Left Behind. I'm pretty sure it's the first (and likely only) time a "South Park" clip will be embedded into an EdWeek blog post. (Thanks for not cursing, guys!)

Concussions: Youth Sports' New Epidemic

In early February, when the National Football League urged all 50 states to adopt youth-concussion laws, 11 had already passed them.

As of today, Dec. 29, 35 states and the District of Columbia now have youth-concussion laws, with a handful of other states ready to consider legislation in 2012.

With roughly 146,000 high school student-athletes having sustained concussions in the 2008-09 school year, according to research from the Center for Injury Research and Policy, it's easy to see why states have been so quick to leap into action. Greater awareness about concussions has likely led to a greater incidence in the reporting of concussions, giving scientists a more accurate picture of just how widespread the problem may be.

Unlike broken bones, concussions can't be detected using X-rays or other medical imagery, putting athletic trainers and other school professionals at a disadvantage when trying to diagnose players. The eighth most popular post of the year gave some background into the youth-sports concussion epidemic, and then mentioned a potential concussion-diagnosis tool called the King-Devick test.

The K-D test is a two-minute exercise that tracks subtle vision problems in athletes suffering from concussions. The journal Neurology called it "an accurate and reliable method for identifying athletes with head trauma," and "a strong candidate [for a] rapid sideline screening test for concussion."

If one thing's clear, there's still plenty of work to be done in this field—particularly with the notion that a repeated number of small, subconcussive hits can progressively build up and cause long-term brain damage over time.

Three Things to Watch for in 2012

1. Ed O'Bannon's lawsuit against the NCAA over use of player likenesses: According to ESPN, fact discovery in the case is scheduled to wrap up in late January. (For background on the case, visit PBS Frontline.

2. Title IX has its 40th birthday on June 23, 2012. I imagine we'll do something special as we get closer to the anniversary.

3. We'll wait to see what progress is made (if any) on lawsuits against NCAA and NFL over concussions. A number of former players have sued both organizations this year, alleging that they knew about the risks of concussions and hid them from players in the past.

If you've made it this far, I thank you, wish you a happy new year, and hope you keep coming back to Schooled in Sports in 2012. Without further adieu...

The Top 10 posts of 2011, by the Numbers

1. "Study: Phys. Ed., Recess Mandates Boost School Physical-Activity Time," Dec. 5.

2. "Students' Fitness Linked to Higher Test Scores," Nov. 21.

3. "Should Schools Make Physical Education Mandatory?," Jan. 26

4. "NCAA Raises Minimum GPA for Incoming Student-Athletes," Oct. 27.

5. "'South Park' Ties Physical Education to 'Occupy Wall Street'," Nov. 3.

6. "The High School Effect of Paying NCAA Student-Athletes," July 28.

7. "Group Sues Ed. Department Over Title IX's 3-Part Test for High Schools," July 21.

8. "Concussions: A Potential Solution to Youth Football's Largest Problem in 2011," Feb. 7.

9. "Calif. Governor Vetoes Bill Banning Pay-to-Play Sports Fees," Oct. 10

10. "Report: One-Third of U.S. Children Are Overweight or Obese," July 11.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

More than 75 colleges and universities have signed on to a request asking the NCAA to override a recently approved proposal that would allow schools to offer multiyear scholarships to student-athletes, putting the fate of the new rule at risk.

For K-12 student-athletes planning on playing varsity sports in college, they'd be wise to pay close attention to this brewing battle.

Proposal 2011-97, approved back in October, would have changed the current model of athletic scholarships, which are renewed on a year-to-year basis. Instead, schools would be able (but not obligated) to offer a multiyear athletic scholarship to students, to give them more security.

The NCAA made the announcement Friday that the Division I board of directors would reconsider the legislation in January, at the annual board meeting.

"Allowing schools to award scholarships for more than a single year addresses concerns some student-athletes have about losing their aid after an injury, because their athletic performance did not live up to expectations, or because of coaching staff changes," the NCAA said in a statement. "If aid were guaranteed for more than a single year, student-athletes would have greater assurance their education could continue."

John Infante, the assistant director of compliance at Loyola Marymount University and the author of the NCAA's Bylaw Blog, confirmed yesterday that 75 schools had signed the override measure. He said it was unlikely that another 50 schools would sign on before Dec. 26, which would have resulted in the automatic suspension of the rule until the January board of directors meeting.

This is the second NCAA proposal to meet the override threshold this year. Earlier this month, 125 schools signed on to an override of another scholarship-related proposal, which would have allowed schools to provide an extra $2,000 in scholarship money to student-athletes each year (assuming it didn't exceed the full cost of attending this school). That motion is now temporarily suspended until the board meets in January.

Looking at the list of override votes, most of the opposition to the multiyear scholarship proposal fell into one of two categories: schools who liked the current single-year scholarship model, and schools afraid of a "recruiting disaster," as Boise State University put it.

American University said, "Multi-year agreements create inconsistency among our programs and create unwanted work for administration." Similarly, Boston University didn't want to offer multiyear scholarships to athletes while only providing other financial aid on a year-to-year basis.

Indiana State University believed, "This proposal, if accepted, is going to create some real nightmares." (They used the term "bidding wars" to describe one such potential nightmare.)

Winthrop University echoed those concerns, saying, "in combination with [the miscellaneous expense proposal], this legislation moves intercollegiate athletics further away from a 'collegiate model' of athletics and closer to a 'professional model' of athletics.

When the Division I board meets on Jan. 14 in Indianapolis, it will have three choices on how to proceed with the multiyear scholarship proposal, according to the NCAA. It can either leave the legislation as is, sending it to a full membership vote; agree with the override and eliminate the proposal; or tweak the proposal in some way, which would then result in another 60-day override period for the new legislation.

The NCAA says roughly 10,000 high school student-athletes signed national letters of intent during the fall signing period, although it's unclear how many were offered "full-cost" scholarships or multiyear scholarships.

If either proposal is permanently rescinded, the NCAA could be in the very awkward position of having to honor those student-athletes' multiyear or full-cost scholarships, while not allowing it for anyone else.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Last week, the National Football League announced that starting this past weekend, a certified athletic trainer will now be sitting in the press box at every NFL game to keep a watch out for possible injuries (largely, concussions).

It's a move that may eventually pave the way for the realization of the National Athletic Trainers' Association's goal of having an athletic trainer stationed at any school with athletics, NATA president Marjorie Albohm told me yesterday via email.

Under the NFL's new policy, if the AT notices a player who's potentially concussed or otherwise injured, he or she will have the ability to call both teams' sidelines to alert their medical staffs. It's important to note, however, that the ATs in the press box will not be able to prescribe treatment to players; they'll only be able to alert the team's medical staff.

The move comes as a direct response to the recent mishandling of Cleveland Browns' quarterback Colt McCoy, who sustained a concussion during a game, was never tested on the sideline, and returned to the game shortly thereafter.

It also comes less than a month after the NFL announced that a league observer would be stationed in the press box of every game to monitor for possible injuries.

Clearly, the league observer policy broke down when McCoy sustained his concussion and returned to the field without being tested. Athletic trainers with a legitimate medical background would theoretically have a better chance of recognizing symptoms of injured players and ensuring they leave the field of play before anything catastrophic happens.

Thus, the athletic trainers will take over the league observer's responsibility of watching out for player injuries and alerting the sidelines whenever they may have occurred.

At least one NFL trainer doesn't mind the extra help.

"Gosh, it's all about player safety," said John Norwig, the Pittsburgh Steelers' trainer, to USA Today. "To have a trainer who is used to taking care of players providing another set of eyes, I don't have any problem with it."

Impact on Youth Sports

Granted, the NFL is a $9 billion-a-year organization. Suffice it to say, I don't know too many K-12 school athletic departments flush with that kind of cash.

That doesn't make athletic trainers any less essential for K-12 sports programs, Ms. Albohm said. In fact, she believes "it is irresponsible to provide an athletic program without an athletic trainer," as "athletic trainers are the health care professionals trained in the prevention and management of injuries."

You may remember, I attended NATA's Youth Sports Safety Summit earlier this month, where one doctor suggested that 90 to 95 percent of deaths that happen in youth sports are preventable.

Ms. Albohm reinforced that point to me yesterday, saying, "documented preventable deaths have occurred on playing fields because health care professionals have not been present to recognize and immediately manage these injuries."

How does the NFL's new athletic trainer policy play into the K-12 level, though?

"Education and awareness is the key to creating change," Ms. Albohm said. "The NFL's concussion policies have put a spotlight on this and other injuries. That has created tremendous awareness of the importance of proper injury care for athletes and the important role that ATs play in that."

Remember, earlier this year, the NFL spoke out and encouraged all 50 states to adopt youth-concussion laws. At the time, only 11 states had such laws.

Now, 10 months later, 35 states and the District of Columbia have youth-concussion laws, with more already pending for the 2012 legislative sessions.

In other words: When the NFL wants something done, it gets done.

By requiring an athletic trainer in the booth of every NFL game, the league is not-so-subtly promoting the importance of ATs in the battle against football's concussion crisis.

Will schools take the NFL's lead and ensure that an athletic trainer is on hand when they're hosting sporting events? Time will tell.

But I know at least one organization which certainly hopes so.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

To allow low-income children to reach their full potential, parents and teachers must provide them with ample opportunities to play, the American Academy of Pediatrics advises in a new report.

Play "allows children to develop creativity and imagination while developing physical, cognitive, and emotional strengths," the report authors write.

Play also may be a valuable tool in the fight against childhood obesity, as it provides children a chance to be physically active. Children who learn to live physically active lifestyles when they're younger are often more likely to continue staying active as adults, studies have shown.

But low-income students face a number of unique challenges that may prevent them from engaging in an optimal amount of physical activity, the AAP says.

For schools facing budget cuts these past few years, recess and physical education classes are often some of the first to be eliminated. With increased pressure to perform well on standardized tests, many low-income schools have shifted more attention to academics and less to arts and P.E.

The authors also note that even after-school activities have become more oriented toward academics and less towards physical activity. Again, the effects are more profound in underperforming schools.

Outside of school, students in low-income areas may live in neighborhoods rife with gang activity and drug dealing, the AAP says. If these children can't play outside, instead, they'll often play video games and stay sedentary for multiple hours.

So... is there a simple solution? Unfortunately, no. The AAP notes that multiple factors can factor into a low-income child's lack of playtime, and thus, a singular solution would not be appropriate.

That said, they do offer a few ideas:

• Schools need to focus on students' academics and their social and emotional well-being, the AAP says. They can do so by incorporating physical activity into classroom activities; a study examining a Charleston, S.C., elementary school found this to lead to an increase in test scores.

• Community leaders in low-income areas should arrange safe environments where children can play outside of school. If schools were kept open after-hours, this could boost engagement in after-school physical activity programs, the report suggests.

• And parents of all income levels should spend time at home playing with their children, to bond with their kids and see the world from their eyes. The AAP refutes the idea that expensive toys are necessary for valuable play, saying, "one-on-one play is a time-tested, effective way of being fully present."

The AAP recommends that pediatricians educate parents about the importance of play, both for physical development reasons and for the bonding opportunities that it provides.

The report, titled, "The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bond: Focus on Children in Poverty," was published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

Photo: Nasir Washington (center) huddles with his neighbors during a game of touch football on Modoc Avenue in Norfolk, Va. On left is Joe Hill and right is Sincere Washington. (Preston Gannaway/The Virginian-Pilot)

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Beginning next school year, Hawaiian middle schoolers in low-performing schools will have the opportunity to extend their school day by participating in an after-school sports program sponsored by the state education department.

The three-year Intermediate Athletics pilot program, announced Wednesday by the department, will be available to students in the "Zones of School Innovation," which represent the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools in the state. Five schools in total will be eligible for the pilot program; 13 schools in total are included in the ZSIs.

Any 6th, 7th, or 8th grade student attending one of those five schools can participate in the Intermediate Athletics program, provided that he or she has a minimum GPA of 2.0 and that he or she enrolls in the After-School All-Stars program.

Boys in the program will be able to choose among basketball, volleyball, soccer, and football, depending on location; girls in all locations will have basketball, volleyball, and soccer available to them.

"We want to provide students the opportunity to engage in activities to extend their learning hours, and learn about self-confidence, self-discipline, and self-esteem at the same time," said Keith Amemiya, the Hawaii state board of education member who spearheaded the program, in a statement.

Deputy Superintendent Ronn Nozoe added, "Research shows these types of extracurricular activities can make a positive impact with academic, social, and emotional development."

For proof of Nozoe's point, look no further than the public schools in Lincoln, Neb., where students who passed the district's fitness test were significantly more likely to pass state math and reading tests.

Linked to Race to the Top

Now, if you've been to our home page today, you'd know that the U.S. Dept. of Ed. contacted Hawaii yesterday about a lack of "adequate progress" that the state has made on its Race to the Top promises. In fact, the state's $75 million Race to the Top grant could be in jeopardy, the ED warned.

I only bring that up here because in the Hawaii education department's news release about this athletics program, the headline suggests that the program will "advance Hawaii's Race to the Top initiatives."

I consulted our in-house Race to the Top expert, Michele McNeil (of Politics K-12 fame), to see if she could provide some insight into how exactly this program fits into Hawaii's overall RTT plan. And, well, ... she couldn't.

In Hawaii's plan, the word "athletics" never appears, according to a CTRL + F search. The word "sports" only appears once (in a section about teacher and principal evaluations).

That said, ZSI schools do play a large role in the state's RTT application. And, specifically, the state pledges to provide ZSI schools "resources to extend the school day and year" through grant funding and strategic use of state and federal funding.

The Hawaii ed. dept. said that more details about the Intermediate Athletics program will be released in April. Perhaps we'll learn more details then about how this sports program ties into the state's larger Race to the Top goals.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Does fighting in hockey directly contribute to brain injuries? If you asked National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman, he'd tell you, plain and simple, there isn't enough research to conclusively link the two.

"I think in this whole area there is probably entirely too much speculation and rumors and the like on something that is simply a tragedy," Bettman said at the conclusion of the NHL Board of Governors meeting earlier this month.

Earlier this week, the Canadian Medical Association Journal ran an editorial that begged to differ with Bettman, titled, "Stop the fighting and play hockey."

It's something for youth hockey leagues to consider, even if the NHL won't.

Dr. Rajenda Kale, the interim editor-in-chief of the journal, writes, "What researchers from the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, Boston University School of Medicine have found in the brains of three prominent hockey players ... should be enough to sway minds to impose a ban on all forms of intentional head trauma, including fighting."

Doctors from BU found evidence of CTE in the brains of all three men. They also recently discovered CTE in the brain of Derek Boogaard, a deceased 28-year-old NHL player, who was the recent subject of a three-part New York Times series.

"The simple message ... is that the brain does not tolerate repeated hits," Kale wrote. "Evidence from boxing injuries collected over decades shows that repeated head trauma can cause brain damage. This evidence can be extrapolated to hockey."

The irony, as the Winnipeg Free Press recently noted, is that the NHL has made strides in recent years to reduce the frequency and severity of head impacts for their players. For whatever reason, that safety effort has yet to include fighting, however.

Youth Hockey and Fighting

The Colorado-based USA Hockey, which sets a national set of rules for youth hockey leagues, enforces ruels against fighting much more stringently among youths.

Any youth player who gets involved in an on-ice fight earns a five-minute "major" penalty and a "game misconduct" penalty, which immediately disqualifies him or her from the current game and his team's next game, according to the 2011-13 rulebook of USA Hockey. The team is allowed to substitute a player, and that substitution serves the five-minute major penalty.

Lesser penalties are assessed to players who drop their stick during an altercation but don't actually engage in combat.

In pro hockey, the rules are hazier. According to the 2010-11 NHL Rulebook, "the referees are provided very wide latitude in the penalties with which they may impose under [the fighting] rule. ... The discretion provided should be exercised realistically."

I've reached out to Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey, with a few questions about the organization's policy toward fighting and whether more severe penalties would be considered in the immediate future, based on the ongoing discussion about fighting and concussions.

To USA Hockey's credit, its board of directors earlier this year approved a new checking skill-development program, which outlaws full-body checks in the ages 12 and under leagues.

Instead, coaches in the 12 and under leagues will be encouraged to emphasize body contact (not head contact) when teaching proper checking technique to their players.

Roger Goodell and the National Football League have become prominent forces in the battle to prevent sports-related concussions in the past few years, as I've covered before. With Bettman, the NHL commissioner, still denying any link between fighting and long-term head injuries, it appears that youth hockey won't have similar pressure coming from its professional counterparts.

Instead, USA Hockey has a chance to set a player-safety precedent that the NHL can adopt.

As Hall-of-Fame goalie Ken Drydek recently said in a piece for ESPN.com's Grantland, "The debate about CTE is important, but it's a distraction. The debate over fighting is a distraction. This is about head injuries. This is about what we can see. This is about what we absolutely know. This is now."

For the alternative, CollegeHumor recently posted a video that you might want to watch.

Photo: The late New York Rangers' Derek Boogaard, right, and Philadelphia Flyers' Jody Shelley fight in the first period of a 2010 NHL hockey game in Philadelphia. (Matt Slocum/AP)

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

By now, you've likely heard of schools charging student-athletes "pay-to-play" fees to keep sports programs running in the face of budget cuts. But what about a school that charges students just to try out?

At Edina (Minn.) High School, boys and girls trying out for hockey and golf are being charged a $50 nonrefundable tryout fee, the Star Tribune reported Tuesday. The paper says that the tryout fee is believed to be the first in the state.

"With the larger numbers of kids trying out, those sports became a legitimate extra cost endured by the district," John Soma, Edina's activities director, told the paper.

I spoke with Mr. Soma over the phone Tuesday afternoon about the policy, which was implemented just this year. Five years ago, the district required a $30 fee for golf tryouts, but had dropped all tryout fees until this year.

Mr. Soma explained that the school must pay additional costs to use facilities for its hockey and golf teams, whereas it's not nearly as costly to maintain the school gymnasium for, say, a basketball or volleyball team. Therefore, only students trying out for hockey and golf are subject to tryout fees; all other athletes aren't charged.

Students participating in any sport at Edina are subject to participation fees, ranging from $140 for cheerleading, tennis, and golf, to upwards of $220 for sports like football and hockey, according to the school's website. The pay-to-play fees increased anywhere from $15 to $30 this year, depending on the sport. The most one family can pay in athletic-participation fees is $600 per year.

Any student-athlete cut from the golf or hockey team will have his or her participation fee returned, minus the $50 fee for tryouts, Soma explained to me.

One parent, whose child was cut from the hockey team this year, told the Star Tribune, that he "sees the value in what you're getting to try out," but said that the tryout fee "is just one more thing you pay. After 12 years of hockey, you're used to getting nickel-and-dimed."

Soma estimated that the tryout fees would raise $5,000 for the athletic department. The Edina school district slashed roughly $2.3 million from their overall budget this past year, according to the paper, resulting in fewer course offerings and teacher job losses.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 2:29 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Over the past 10 years, the percentage of young adults considered either overweight or obese has continued to rise, but they aren't dramatically shifting their exercise habits in response, according to a new report from the National Center for Education Statistics.

My colleague Sarah Sparks wrote about the general findings from the study over on the Inside School Research blog yesterday. I'm here to dig into the weight & obesity and exercise statistics a little closer.

The NCES study examines data from young adults between the ages of 14 and 24 over the course of the past 30 years. According to the data, the number of 18- to 24-year-olds whose body mass indexes were considered healthy dropped by more than 5 percentage points from 1999 and 2008.

Meanwhile, the percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds considered overweight or obese both rose in that same time frame. Overall, 24.2 percent of young adults were considered overweight in 1999, compared with 26.4 percent in 2008; overall obesity rose from 13.4 percent in 1999 to 16.3 percent in 2008.

There doesn't appear to be any difference based on gender. Both males and females were more likely to be considered overweight or obese in 2008 than they were in 1999, according to the data.

One finding I'm fascinated by: The percentage of underweight young adults did have a gender discrepancy, and likely not in the way you might expect.

The percentage of females considered underweight dropped from 6.6 percent in 1999 to 5.4 percent in 2008 (tied to eating-disorder prevention, perhaps?). But the percentage of underweight males actually rose over that decade, going from 2.2 percent in 1999 to 3.6 percent in 2008. When you combine both males and females, the percentage of total underweight young adults hardly shifted from 1999 to 2008.

When it came to the number of times that young adults exercise in a given week, there weren't nearly as many obvious trends in the data. Young adults ages 18 to 24 were slightly less likely to never engage in vigorous physical activity in 2008 (44.2 percent) than 1999 (44.9 percent), but they were also less likely to have five or more periods of vigorous physical activity in a given week in 2008 than 1999.

The most significant change, in terms of percentage, came in the group of those who would vigorously exercise less than once a week. Only 3.2 percent of young adults classified themselves as that in 1999, whereas that figure increased to 4.8 percent by 2008.

These findings are in line with a study released earlier this year at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, which suggested that students often engage in counterproductive behaviors when trying to lose weight.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

If you're wondering why concussions have become such a major health problem for athletes of all ages, look no further than what recently transpired with Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy.

Two weeks ago, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison leveled McCoy with a helmet-to-helmet hit, causing McCoy to crumple to the ground, holding his head. The Browns' medical staff rushed onto the field and escorted McCoy to the sideline.

Less than four minutes later, McCoy re-entered the game.

The team revealed after the game that McCoy had sustained a concussion from the hit by Harrison. The only problem is, the Browns' medical staff didn't test McCoy for a concussion before allowing him to return to the game. They somehow didn't realize how severe the hit was, Browns President Mike Holmgren said last week.

McCoy isn't the first football player to re-enter a game after sustaining a concussion, unfortunately, and he likely won't be the last. His story is yet another reminder that no matter how many rules are put in place to protect athletes (at all levels) against concussions, the athletes have a unique advantage when it comes to getting around the rules: They can try and hide their symptoms.

The Browns' coaching staff said that McCoy didn't start displaying symptoms of a concussion until after the game, justifying their decision to reinsert him so quickly. But McCoy's father, Brad, told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer that his son didn't remember anything about the game after taking the shot from Harrison.

"I talked to Colt this morning and he said, 'Dad, I don't know what happened,' " Brad McCoy said. Colt was also reportedly sensitive to lights in his postgame interview—another tell-tale sign of concussion.

This incident occurred in a league that's become one of the most proactive forces in battling concussions over the past few years. Coincidence or not, less than two weeks after this incident, the Associated Press reported that the NFL will likely look at expanding the ban on players launching themselves when making tackles and helmet-to-helmet hits.

The bottom line is, concussions are an inevitable part of a violent, physical game like football. The best that medical professionals and the league can hope for is to respond appropriately when a player may have a concussion.

Therein lies the fundamental difficulty with concussions for the time being. Unlike a broken bone, which will show up on an X-ray, concussions aren't diagnosable with any electronic imagery. And that makes it all too easy for athletes to hide their symptoms and try to continue playing.

What Can Be Done?

Baseline tests are currently one of the most valuable tools medical professionals have at their disposal when it comes to diagnosing concussions. Athletes take the test before ever being cleared to practice, to record their healthy level of brain activity, then retake the test after potentially suffering a concussion to see how the results compare.

If an athlete takes substantially longer to answer the same questions, or his or her responses vary wildly between the two tests, a doctor would then likely suspect that he or she had sustained a concussion.

There's only one problem. Not only have athletes been known to hide their concussion symptoms to try and get back into a game, but there's also a rising suspicion of athletes attempting to "game" their baseline tests by deliberately doing poorly on the preseason version. That way, if and when they do sustain a concussion, they've essentially given themselves some breathing room on the second test.

At the National Athletic Trainers' Association's recent Youth Sports Safety Summit, I asked Dr. Kevin Guskiewicz about that very fear about baseline tests. (Guskiewicz, based out of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, received a $500,000 "Genius Grant" from the MacArthur Foundation earlier this year for his work with sports-related concussions.)

Guskiewicz said that while the concern about baseline tests has merit, medical professionals can examine the standard deviations of a player's test results to double-check that they're relatively accurate. At UNC, Guskiewicz said, any student-athlete who scores below 2 deviations of what a typical test score should be will get retested, or referred for ADHD or further medical examination.

The bottom line is, concussion prevention and treatment, for the time being, relies first and foremost on education. Coaches, parents, players, game officials, school nurses, athletic trainers, and school administrators, at this point, all should be knowledgeable about concussions, experts say.

Many states' concussion laws already require parents and coaches to educate themselves about concussions before involving themselves or their children in youth athletics. Advocates say many can go further in their scope.

It took the Cleveland Browns nearly two weeks to admit that its system failed when doctors didn't examine Colt McCoy for a concussion. All NFL games have league observers sitting in the press box specifically watching for concussions (as of recently), and McCoy still slipped through the cracks.

To prevent student-athletes from doing the same, educating anyone involved with youth athletics about the dangers of concussions seems to be one of the safest routes.

UPDATE (1:45 p.m.): Five minutes after I published this post, I noticed a story on ESPN's front page about an NHL player who recently hid concussion symptoms from his team for two days.

Colby Armstrong of the Toronto Maple Leafs was injured against Vancouver on Saturday night, but didn't alert his team's medical staff until Monday afternoon. He's now sidelined indefinitely with a concussion.

"It took us all by complete shock because we had no idea that he had his bell rung the other night," Leafs coach Ron Wilson said Monday night. "He kind of kept that from us."

Once again: If it can happen in a professional sports league, it can happen in a youth sports league. Adults presiding over youth sports need to underscore the importance of admitting concussion symptoms to their athletes.

It's no exaggeration to say that removal from play can be the difference between life and death for an athlete with a concussion or other brain injury.

Photo: Trainers tend to Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy after he was hit by Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison in the fourth quarter of the NFL football game in Pittsburgh on Dec. 8. (Don Wright/AP)

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

A word to the wise: When paying tribute to an NFL quarterback's famous pose in school, make sure you aren't creating a fire hazard in the process.

Four student-athletes at Riverhead (N.Y.) High School earned one-day suspensions last week for repeatedly "Tebowing" (named after Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow) in the middle of their school's hallway, Yahoo!'s Prep Rally blog reported.

Two of the suspensions were later revoked, after administrators realized that those students were not given the same warnings as the others, ESPNNewYork.com reported.

Tebowing, the latest Internet sensation, basically constitutes getting down on one knee, resting your forehead on your fist, and praying (or pretending to pray, in the imitators' case). Tebow, who's devoutly Christian, often strikes the pose after scoring touchdowns or in high-pressure situations late in games. (He's also defied all odds by compiling a 7-2 record as a starter this year, gaining national notoriety in the process.)

The student-athletes weren't suspended for bringing religion into school, Riverhead Superintendent Nancy Carney told ESPN. Instead, they were suspended for organizing roughly 40 students in their Tebowing, which allegedly created a fire hazard in the hallway.

"The administration told us that our Tebowing was blocking the halls and could potentially cause a riot, because they were growing in number, and if the wrong kid gets pushed, a brawl could ensue," Connor Carroll, a senior at Riverhead, told Yahoo!'s Prep Rally. "We had no idea that we could get suspended for such a thing. It was a joke between a group of friends that took a life of its own. We figured at the most we would just be told to stop."

Connor and his twin brother, Tyler, were the two students whose suspensions were upheld, according to Newsday. They had reportedly organized the spontaneous Tebowing multiple days last week.

"It's just high school kids being kids and administrators doing what they do on a daily basis—keeping kids safe," Carney said to ESPN, "and with today's world and cellphones and people taking pictures and video, it can be taken out of context."

Carney said that since the incident gained national attention, she's been receiving hate mail accusing the school of making its decision based on religion.

If only the Broncos had beaten the New England Patriots on Sunday ... the whole country might be on Tebowing watch then.

Photo: Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow prays in the end zone before the start of the Dec. 11 game against the Chicago Bears in Denver. (Julie Jacobson/AP)

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Remember yesterday, when I wrote that 97 schools had signed on to a petition aiming to override the NCAA's new rule, which allowed schools to provide up to $2,000 in extra scholarship money to student-athletes?

Consider that rule officially suspended until January, the NCAA announced yesterday.

In the words of Anchorman's Ron Burgundy: "Boy, that escalated quickly."

It's rare that universities override NCAA legislation, David Berst, NCAA vice president for Division I, told Christine Brennan from USA Today. The NCAA typically introduces around 100 new pieces of legislation each year, and only one or two get overridden, Berst estimated.

Most objections to the new rule fell into one of four categories, according to the announcement from the NCAA. Schools were concerned with how quickly the legislation had been implemented (after being concocted at a presidents' retreat in August, it was approved in late October); the "perceived impact on competitive equity" that the rule could have; Title IX compliance, and how the rule would apply to student-athletes in sports that don't necessarily provide full scholarships.

"Based on conversations I have had, I am confident that there remains a very high level of support for this permissive legislation to provide better support for our student-athletes," NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a statement.

In Brennan's column, she expressed little surprise that the measure was tabled, writing, "The last thing college athletic departments need at the moment, in the midst of the most scandal-ridden time in college sports history, is to be told they should spend more money on athletics."

She also notes that some of the opposition to the measure could stem from the fact that only 22 of the 300+ Division I athletic departments turned a profit in fiscal 2010, according to NCAA figures.

What's Next for the Stipend?

When the Division I board of directors meets in Indianapolis on Jan. 14, it'll have three options:

• Do nothing, keeping the suspension in place until an override vote occurs.

• Eliminate the rule.

• Make changes to the rule, which would create new legislation subject to a 60-day override period.

While the NCAA's announcement doesn't give any indication on what direction the board may lean, Emmert's comments certainly may. If he believes that there's still "a very high level of support" for the rule, it seems unlikely that the board would eliminate it entirely without attempting to make any changes.

Suffice it to say, I'll be following the mid-January meeting of the board of directors very closely. High school student-athletes hoping to carry their athletic careers into college should, too.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

UPDATED

In the $1 trillion compromise budget bill put forth by Congress this week, funding for the Department of Education would stay relatively level, but a number of education-related initiatives wouldn't be so lucky, my colleague Erik Robelen reports.

One education program that wouldn't see a reduction in funding? The Carol M. White Physical Education Program, which would maintain all $79 million of its budget from last year in fiscal 2012.

[UPDATE (6:30 p.m.): According to my colleagues over at Politics K-12, the House passed the budget by a vote of 296-121.]

The PEP provides grants to local education agencies and community-based organizations to "initiate, expand, or enhance physical education programs" for K-12 students, according to the Dept. of Ed.'s website.

Back in late September, the department awarded 76 PEP grants worth more than $35 million to organizations across the country.

For more education-related reaction to the budget bill, check out both Politics K-12 and On Special Education.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Students are more inclined to drink water over sugar-sweetened drinks if provided with clear, easy-to-understand information about the caloric content in those sugary drinks, according to a new study published online today in the American Journal of Public Health.

The teens were nearly twice as likely to buy nonsugar-sweetened drinks after learning that sugary beverages contained roughly 10 percent of their daily expected calories, or would require 50 minutes of physical activity to burn off, the study found.

"People generally underestimate the number of calories in the foods they consume," write the study's authors.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health collected data from 1,600 beverage sales to black youths, ages 12 to 18, from four corner stores in a predominantly low-income, black neighborhood in Baltimore. For 400 of those sales, the researchers provided no extra nutritional information about the beverages being purchased, to set a baseline.

In the other 1,200 sales, the researchers randomly posted signs in the stores with one of three types of information (for 400 sales each):

• "Did you know that a bottle of soda or fruit juice has about 250 calories?" (Dubbed "absolute caloric count" in the study.)

• "Did you know that a bottle of soda or fruit juice has about 10 percent of your daily calories?" (Called "percentage of total recommended daily intake.")

• "Did you know that working off a bottle of soda or fruit juice takes about 50 minutes of running?" (Referred to as "physical activity requirement.")

Of the three types of information provided, the physical-activity requirement had the most dramatic effect on the teens in the study. They were half as likely to buy sugar-sweetened beverages after being presented with physical activity information, according to the study.

This came as little surprise to the researchers, who suggested in the background of the study that "providing consumers with relative caloric information may be more desirable than providing them with absolute caloric information," since the data would require a lower amount of interpretation.

Overall, presenting any calorie information to the youths in the study reduced the odds of them purchasing sugar-sweetened beverages by roughly 40 percent.

"This study showed that black teenagers will use calorie information, especially when presented in an easy-to-understand format, such as a physical-activity equivalent, to make healthier choices when it comes to buying a drink at the local corner store," said Sara Bleich, one of the study's co-authors and assistant professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Health Policy and Management, in a statement. "Most consumers underestimate the number of calories in a can of soda, and they often do not realize that such calories can add up quickly."

Given that the American Academy of Pediatrics released a study earlier this year suggesting that virtually all student-athletes should be turning to water instead of energy drinks, this new study could have a profound impact on the ways coaches deliver that message to their players.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

At the end of October, the NCAA approved a wave of changes for the benefit of student-athletes, including one that would allow conferences to offer up to $2,000 extra in scholarship money to athletes each year.

Now, the fate of that new rule remains uncertain, leaving high school student-athletes hoping to receive extra scholarship money in limbo.

Ninety-seven schools have signed a petition asking the NCAA to override the measure at January's annual NCAA convention, according to an Associated Press report from Wednesday. (Only 75 signatures were needed for the override challenge.)

If 125 schools sign the petition by Dec. 26, the new stipend will automatically be eliminated, the AP reports.

Why did the NCAA pass the stipend measure in the first place? One 2010 study from the National College Players Association estimated that athletic scholarships, which cover only tuition, room and board, and books, leave students paying roughly $3,000 out of pocket each year (depending, of course, on which school they're attending).

After discussing the possibility of a stipend at a two-day presidents' retreat over the summer, the NCAA board of directors implemented it on Oct. 27.

Remember, though, that just because the NCAA would allow conferences to offer the "full-cost" scholarships didn't mean they had to follow through.

Sure, you could argue that any conference that didn't offer their student-athletes extra scholarship money would be at a competitive disadvantage in recruiting, but is that much different from the current discrepancies between, say, Ohio State University and Ohio University, for example?

A Lucky Few?

Here's where the potential revocation of the stipend gets tricky.

David Berst, the Division I vice president of governance, told the AP that somewhere around 1,000 high school student-athletes signed letters-of-intent with their future colleges in November, with the understanding that they'd be receiving an extra $2,000 of scholarship money.

Even if the stipend plan gets revoked by virtue of 125 schools signing on to the petition, Berst told the AP that the student-athletes who already signed would still receive their extra money.

"We would honor the agreements that have taken place," Berst said. "So even if you were to rescind the rule as of Dec. 26 and not operate under that rule in the future, we would honor those agreements. I think that causes the board to redouble its efforts at the January meeting."

The NCAA did not immediately respond with a comment to an Education Week inquiry about the petition.

Christine Brennan of USA Today, who originally tweeted the news about the petition, suggested that a good bit of opposition to the stipend could stem from the fact that only 22 of 331 Division I athletic departments turned a profit last year.

As Brennan tweeted, "Football does not pay for field hockey, folks."

Berst appeared to confirm that theory to the AP, noting that most of the opposition to the stipend came from Football Championship Subdivision schools (aka, schools in "mid-major" conferences) and schools without football teams.

If the petition doesn't get the 125 signatures required to automatically revoke the measure, the Division I board will be forced to take the proposal up at its annual convention in January. At the convention, the board could rescind the stipend, modify the rule, or allow member schools to vote on the override, according to the AP.

Stay tuned ... this appears to only just be getting started.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

First lady Michelle Obama set out two months ago to shatter the Guinness World Record for the most people doing jumping jacks in a 24-hour period.

Consider that mission accomplished, Mrs. Obama announced yesterday on the Let's Move! website.

The old record stood at 20,425 people, according to a guest blog by my colleague Nirvi Shah over on Politics K-12.

Now, thanks to Mrs. Obama and the Let's Move! initiative, the record stands at 300,265 people. Suffice it to say, anyone looking to break that record will need to mobilize quite the force to do so.

"That's 300,000 people who worked together to make history," Mrs. Obama said in the video on the website.

In the video, she stressed that the world record was a great accomplishment, but she's got an even larger goal in mind: ending childhood obesity in a generation, "so that all our kids will grow up healthy and strong."

Check out Mrs. Obama's announcement here:

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Memphis police opened an investigation last week into Robert "Bobby" Dodd, a former president and chief executive officer of the Amateur Athletic Union, on the heels of an ESPN report that he sexually abused two of his players in the 1980s.

In response to the ESPN report, the AAU released a statement noting that Dodd is currently fighting colon cancer and would not be returning to his positions with the AAU.

"The AAU has recently been made aware of some serious allegations about President Robert W. 'Bobby' Dodd, dating back several decades," read the statement, from Louis Stout, acting AAU president. "The AAU has opened an independent investigation into these matters and also has contacted local law enforcement in Memphis, where the activities allegedly occurred. We will actively cooperate with any and all authorities to determine the facts and the truth."

The ESPN story, published late last Friday, was based on the allegations of two players who said Dodd would touch them inappropriately, sometimes masturbating in their hotel rooms while they slept.

One player, who spoke to ESPN anonymously, accused Dodd of providing him alcohol and said he was almost certain that Dodd drugged him on at least one occasion.

They said the sexual abuse occurred between the ages of 12 and 16, when they were players for a Memphis-based AAU team that Dodd ran. According to ESPN, Dodd was still running AAU teams in Memphis before these allegations surfaced last week.

The AAU, founded in 1888, has served more than 500,000 youths in its 100-plus year history, according to the organization's website.

Stout, the interim president, released another statement the day after the ESPN report went online, saying that the organization would undergo an independent review of its safeguards and screening measures for staff members.

"AAU has a proud and strong track record of providing safe and positive youth programs in communities throughout the country," Stout said. "But, as appropriate, we are going to enhance any of our policies, procedures, and practices—as recommended by this expert review—to ensure the safety of all of the young people in our programs."

Dodd did not respond to ESPN's multiple attempts to contact him before the release of its report on Friday. He had still not offered an official statement on the matter, as of Monday morning.

If these accusations turn out to have merit, they're just as stomach-churning and heartbreaking as the ones against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky and former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine that emerged in recent weeks.

One has to wonder, at this point, if the Sandusky allegations won't end up being a turning point in abuse reporting cases against sports coaches.

If nothing else, the wave of these scandals in sports has some states reconsidering the severity of their child-abuse reporting laws.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

If Florida state Rep. Larry Metz gets his way, middle school students will no longer be required by state law to take a daily physical education class, starting in July.

Metz's bill, filed back in late September, received a favorable vote from the state K-20 Innovation Subcommittee last week.

The bill strikes the current part of Florida's law that requires "the equivalent of one class period per day of physical education for one semester of each year" for 6th through 8th grade students.

"Simply because an idea may have merit for some does not mean that we should use the power of government to mandate it for all," Metz wrote in an email to ABC News. "Some physically fit and active middle school students might rather use that time in their school day to take another elective."

I can only imagine my Beyond School Blog-writing colleague would respond, "Well, then, why don't you add more time to the school day?"

Metz had a response to that train of thought ready in his email to ABC News.

"Since this mandate was passed, K-12 education funding has been significantly reduced," he wrote. "In the current declining revenue environment, I believe it is only fair that some mandates on school districts be removed."

Let's put aside for a moment the fact that Florida's governor, Rick Scott, proposed a state budget last week that called for a $1 billion boost in education spending over the next year.

Instead, let's focus on the fundamental flaw in Metz's logic, based on recent research: That the sole purpose of physical education class is to combat childhood obesity.

Missing the Point?

Yes, undeniably, having students move around and stay active is one of the greatest, most tangible benefits of phys. ed. class. A recent study found school-based programs that promote physical fitness to be beneficial in the fight against youth-obesity.

However, it also seems unwise to undersell the academic benefits that physical activity and phys. ed. classes can contribute. In Lincoln, Neb., students who passed the district's physical-fitness test were significantly more likely to pass state reading and math tests, according to a recent review.

They're not the only ones to notice a link between academics and fitness. Earlier this year, I wrote about a Maryland school that saw boosts to students' fitness levels, attention spans, and test scores after starting a running club back in 2009.

A study released earlier this year also observed an elementary school in South Carolina that noticed higher test scores after implementing a more comprehensive physical education program.

What's the best way to ensure that schools install comprehensive physical education programs? Having state and district policies that require them, according to a study released last week.

Therein lies the rub with the proposed bill, opponents might say.

Forget the potential academic benefits for the moment, too. As an adult, don't you spend enough time cooped up at a cubicle or at your work desk each day? Shouldn't schoolchildren take every chance they can to run, play, and be physically active, before adulthood gets the best of them?

ABC News reported that the American Heart Association has already spoken out against the bill. Depending on how far along in the legislative process this bill gets, that group may not be the only national health organization to voice opposition to it.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

As quarterback Matthew Owens, of Boston's Cathedral High School, strode towards the end zone for the game-winning touchdown in the state championship game this past weekend, he briefly raised his arm in the air to celebrate the moment.

The only problem: That celebration ended up costing his team the state championship.

A referee threw a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct against Owens as he crossed the goal line, negating the touchdown. Cathedral went on to lose the game to Blue Hills Regional Technical School, 16-14.

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association follows the NCAA's rulebook when it comes to unsportsmanlike conduct, which prohibits players from using "abusive, threatening or obscene language or gestures" or engaging "in such acts that provoke ill will or are demeaning to an opponent, to game officials or to the image of the game."

More specifically, the rules ban players from "delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act[s] by which a player (or players) attempts to focus attention upon himself (or themselves)." Players with a clear path to the end zone also aren't allowed to alter their stride, according to the rules.

Now, watch the video, courtesy of ABC News, and ask yourself, did Owens' celebration constitute a violation of any of those rules?

No matter how you feel about the call, there's nothing that can be done now, according to a statement released by the MIAA Wednesday. "Once the final whistle is sounded the game is over," the statement read.

The MIAA adopted the NCAA's rules on unsportsmanlike conduct in 2010, becoming the first state to do so. The new rules went into effect this year, and the organization said it "took comprehensive measures to ensure that everyone understood this rule" at the beginning of the season.

While the Cathedral players may have lost the state championship due to a controversial penalty, they did gain a new ally in Boston mayor Thomas Menino, who stopped by the school this week to invite the team to a "victory lunch," according to the Boston Herald.

"This kid was 18 years old, his birthday, running for the Super Bowl championship," Menino said, according to the paper. "You wouldn't be a human being if you didn't show some expression."

The MIAA tried to put this incident into a larger context in their statement from this week:

"Losing a game or having an official's call go against you or your team are all part of sports. Just like athletes and coaches, officials try hard to do the best job possible. Athletes must learn to put these things behind them and move forward. During their lifetime, they will experience similar situations where they feel "wronged" by a superior or authority figure and they must learn to deal with that situation."

To the Cathedral players' credit, they shook hands with the opposing team after the game ended, instead of storming off the field, à la LeBron James.

"They rose to the occasion," Mayor Menino said on Wednesday, according to the paper.

If only their championship dreams didn't have to get derailed because of a questionable call.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

School-based programs that promote physical fitness and healthy eating were found to have a positive impact in the fight against childhood obesity, according to a review published Tuesday in The Cochrane Library.

Equally as important: The researchers found no evidence that these interventions had a harmful effect on any students.

"Our findings show that obesity prevention is worth investing in," said lead researcher Elizabeth Waters, who works at the McCaughey Centre at the University of Melbourne in Australia. "Given the range of programs included in this review, it is hard to say exactly which components are the best, but we think the strategies to focus on are those that seek to change environments, rather than just the behavior of individuals."

The researchers updated a previous Cochrane Review from 2005 in an attempt to discover which interventions were most successful in helping children stay a healthy weight and avoid obesity. They reviewed 55 studies in total, which varied in the interventions examined and the degree of success associated with each programs.

Most of the successful interventions were either tied to improving a child's eating habits or physical-activity levels, due to their strong link to obesity.

The researchers identified a number of school-based programs that could help prevent childhood obesity, including:

• Increasing the amount of physical activity for students on a weekly basis.

• Improving the nutritional quality of food served in schools. (Congress' recent moves won't help in that regard.)

• Training teachers in ways to promote physical activity and healthy eating.

• Reaching out to parents and encouraging home-based physical activity and healthy eating.

"Research that aims to reduce childhood obesity must now concentrate on finding ways of embedding effective interventions in health, education, and care systems, so that we can make population-wide, long-term impacts on the levels of obesity," said Waters.

Are Doctors Playing Their Role?

Fewer than 25 percent of parents of overweight children ever recall being told by a doctor that their child's weight was an issue, according to a separate study published Monday in the Journal of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, drew on data collected as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2008. In all, the researchers examined data from 4,895 children, ages 2 to 15, whose body mass index was at or above the 85th percentile. (Someone with a BMI between the 85th and 94th percentile is considered "overweight.")

Only 22 percent of the parents of those children reported that either a doctor or health-care professional told them that their child was overweight.

It's not all bad news, though. The study found more doctors to be informing parents about their child's obesity over the past decade, going from 19.4 percent in 1999 to 29.1 percent in 2007-08.

"As health-care providers, it's our job to screen for overweight and obesity and communicate those screening results in sensitive ways, and we are clearly either not doing it or not doing it in a way that families can hear or remember," said Dr. Eliana M. Perrin, lead author of the study and associated professor in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. "While we've done better in recent years, clearly there's more work to be done."

The next question is, as Dr. Perrin notes: How much of a difference would it make if all parents of overweight children were cognizant of their child's condition?

One study released in July attempted to answer that question already. It suggested that when California schools notified parents about their child's weight issues, the warnings had no impact on his or her future weight loss.

Another study, released in September, discovered that 22 percent of parents feel uncomfortable discussing the consequences of being overweight with their children.

So, while awareness may be part of the battle in attempting to combat childhood obesity, it's clear that more needs to be done.

As the Cochrane Library review suggests, schools can and should play an integral role in that ongoing battle.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The Maryland state board of education has voted to recommend that student-athletes maintain a minimum grade point average of 2.0 to remain involved in school athletics, but no schools in the state will be required to adopt this standard.

The board acted Tuesday in response to a state law passed earlier this year, which requires the board to report back to the Maryland General Assembly before the end of 2011 with a set of statewide recommendations for minimum academic standards for high school athletes.

Currently, each Maryland school system can set its own academic standards for student-athletes, so long as they can ensure that the student-athletes "are making satisfactory progress toward graduation."

Sixteen of the 24 districts in Maryland already require student-athletes to hold a 2.0 GPA to remain eligible, and the other eight have some other lower minimum standard, according to the Baltimore Sun.

In late October, the board's Committee on Minimum Standards for Participation in Interscholastic Athletics reported back to the full board with three main recommendations, the first of which was the suggested minimum GPA.

Yesterday, the board passed the recommended 2.0 GPA by a vote of 10-2.

Fear of Dropouts

The two dissenting voters expressed hesitation that the increased academic standards may cause some struggling student-athletes to drop out of school.

"You can feel good that you have upheld standards, but to what end?" said board member Kate Walsh at the meeting, according to the Sun. "I would rather have them in school." (Walsh has served as the president of the National Council on Teacher Quality since 2002.)

"If we are taking something away from a student that would motivate them to come to school, I don't think that is right," added Ronald Belinko, coordinator of athletics for Baltimore County, according to the paper.

As the Sun notes, "it's unclear whether the new standard would render more students ineligible to play on sports teams."

It's also worth stressing that the board only approved the minimum student-athlete GPA as a recommendation, not as a mandate for districts. While most districts are expected to conform to the new standard, according to the paper, they'll have flexibility in their interpretation of the rules.

For instance: Some schools may allow principals to give exceptions to student-athletes below the 2.0 GPA in extenuating circumstances, while others may uniformly prohibit any student-athletes with a GPA below 2.0 from competing.

In other words: Predicting that this recommendation will cause a huge wave of dropouts is speculative, at best.

Student-athletes in the 16 districts that already have the 2.0 GPA requirement are hardly likely to notice the new recommendation. For student-athletes in the other eight districts, the new recommended GPA could have a short-term effect on team rosters, but that will depend on each district's interpretation of the recommendation.

2.0 GPA Too Demanding?

Is a 2.0 GPA too much to ask out of student-athletes? Judging by the set of proposals approved by the NCAA in late October, that's hardly the case.

Starting in August 2015, incoming freshman student-athletes will need to have a 2.3 GPA to be immediately cleared for competition. (Currently, the NCAA requires incoming athletes to hold a 2.0 GPA.)

If a student-athlete falls between a 2.0 and 2.3 GPA after August 2015, he or she will retain an athletic scholarship and will be allowed to practice with teammates, but will be ineligible for competition in that first year.

If the NCAA will soon be requiring incoming student-athletes from all 50 states to hold a 2.3 GPA in order to be immediately eligible for athletics, suffice it to say, there's precedent for the Maryland board's recommendation.

It's important to keep in mind that athletics are a privilege for students, not a right. If a student-athlete has a sub-2.0 GPA, some might think that he or she should be spending more time hitting the books and less time on the playing field.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 5:25 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The National Athletic Trainers' Association released a first-of-its-kind position statement today on sudden death in youth sports, combining 10 older position statements from the organization into one 14-page document.

While the older position statements each took an expansive look at one particular youth-sports safety issue, never before has there been a position statement covering such a wide range of causes of death in youth athletes.

NATA also held its third annual Youth Sports Safety Summit today in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the release of the position statement. Researchers, athletic trainers, and parents of deceased student-athletes gathered to share their expertise in the ways sudden death in youth sports can be prevented.

"We believe that 90 to 95 percent of the deaths that happen in youth sports are preventable," said Dr. Douglas Casa, co-chair of the new policy statement, at the summit.

In the new statement, NATA members examined the leading causes of death in student-athletes, namely: asthma, catastrophic brain injuries, cervical spine injuries, diabetes, exertional heat stroke, exertional hyponatremia, exertional sickling, head-down contact in football, lightning, and cardiac arrest.

"Recognizing the many reasons for sudden death allows us to create and implement emergency action plans (EAPs) that provide detailed guidelines for prevention, recognition, treatment, and return to play (RTP)," the statement reads.

Nearly half of high schools lack athletic trainers, according to NATA, leaving coaches, athletic directors, or strength and conditioning coaches to shoulder the burden of immediately tending to student-athlete injuries. Since these professionals lack the medical expertise of an athletic trainer, NATA strongly recommends that all schools have an EAP in place, to guide school officials through emergency situations.

"You always have to prepare, because it's the unexpected that really sneaks up on you and causes problems," said Jon Almquist, an administrator of the Fairfax County Public Schools Athletic Training Program, during the summit.

Almquist hosted the final panel of the day, on EAPs, where he stressed that EAPs aren't a school's way of saying that they don't trust the coach to handle an emergency situation. Instead, EAPs help guide a coach or school official through the high-pressure situation of dealing with an injured child.

A number of the panelists stressed that EAPs and the new policy statement should apply to all students, not just student-athletes. Students could collapse of sudden cardiac arrest or suffer concussions during phys. ed. class, or could have asthma attacks during recess, after all.

'It Could Be Your Child'

Some of the most gripping moments of the day, if you ask this writer, came during the speeches and presentations delivered by the parents whose children died while playing sports. An emotional subject, to say the least.

Take Laura Friend, for instance. Her daughter, Sarah, was taking a junior lifeguard class at a local water park back in 2004. She was three weeks away from her 13th birthday.

The last day of the class, Sarah was walking up the stairs to a ride when she collapsed.

The water park housed two AEDs (one of which was underneath the ride where Sarah collapsed) and plenty of lifeguards, Laura said, but no one used the AED on Sarah. The park did not have an emergency plan.

"It doesn't matter if they have the equipment, if they can't recognize the condition," she said.

After Sarah's death, Laura created the Sarah Friend Heart Foundation, which has donated around 60 defibrillators to schools in Texas.

Then, there was Rhonda Fincher. Rhonda's son, Kendrick, went to his first day of football practice, collapsed from heat stroke after practice, and died 18 days later.

"I thought the worst that could happen is that he would maybe break a bone. ... We had no clue what our son was getting into," Rhonda said, through tears. "Over the next 18 days, we watched as his body shut down."

Since Kendrick's death, Rhonda started the Kendrick Fincher Hydration Foundation, which aims to promote proper hydration and prevent heat illness by education coaches, parents, and student-athletes.

Lisa Gfeller's son, Matthew, took a hard helmet-to-helmet hit during his first varsity high school football game, back on August 28, 2008. He never regained consciousness, and died two days later.

She created the Matthew Alan Gfeller Foundation to warn kids to "play it safe," especially when dealing with head injuries.

Last year, the Matthew Alan Gfeller Sports Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center opened at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where Kevin Guskiewicz, recent MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" awardee, works. (Dr. Guskiewicz spoke at the summit about his ongoing work with traumatic brain injuries in young athletes.)

Solutions to a Pressing Problem

Unfortunately, student lives continue to be lost during school sports. This year alone, 40 student-athletes have died from sports-related injuries (many from sudden cardiac arrest).

That number is "not acceptable," said Marjorie Albohm, president of NATA, in the opening presentation at the summit. "Help us make that number a lot smaller," she pleaded to the audience, mainly comprised of policymakers in the Youth Sports Safety Alliance.

High school athletes suffer 2 million injuries every year, resulting in 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations annually, according to NATA.

While states have made serious headway with youth-concussion laws over the past two years, other youth safety issues, such as sudden cardiac arrest (the leading cause of death in youth-athletes) and heat illness haven't caught the attention of nearly as many legislators.

"Ultimately, all of these issues must be legislated," Albohm said.

The policy statement, "Preventing Sudden Death in Youth Sports," will be published in print in the January 2012 issue of the Journal of Athletic Training.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 6:21 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

A substantial number of children suffer headaches months after sustaining a traumatic brain injury (TBI), with girls and teenagers even more prone, according to a study published online Monday in Pediatrics.

With more than 500,000 children suffering TBIs each year, according to the study's authors, teachers and coaches alike must keep in mind that a TBI can be a long-term, multi-month injury, despite no visible damage.

The study examined children ages 5 to 17 who were either hospitalized in nine institutions in King County, Washington state, or a hospital in Philadelphia. The researchers compared the prevalence of headaches in children who suffered mild TBIs or moderate to severe TBIs with a control group of children with arm injuries and no head injuries. (A concussion is an example of a mild TBI.) The control group, with no head injuries, would suggest the typical rate of headaches in youths.

Three months after suffering a mild TBI, 43 percent of children reported having headaches. Somewhat surprisingly, only 37 percent of children who suffered moderate to severe TBIs reported headaches, compared with 26 percent of the children with arm injuries in the control group.

While the authors did not suggest why headaches would be more prevalent in the mild TBI group than the moderate-to-severe group, they discovered that headaches were more than twice as common in younger children (ages 5 to 12) who suffered moderate or severe TBIs.

Three months after a moderate or severe TBI, 60 percent of children ages 5-12 reported headaches, compared with only 27 percent of the children with arm injuries. Nearly 50 percent of adolescents (ages 13 to 17) reported headaches three months after a mild TBI, and nearly 60 percent of girls did so, too.

Notably, one year after the injuries, the researchers did not discover any significant difference in terms of headaches for the control group and the groups with brain injuries (this includes both the mild TBI and moderate-to-severe TBI groups).

"Little research has focused on chronic headache post-TBI in children," said lead author Dr. Heidi Blume, assistant professor of neurology at the University of Washington, in a statement. "Our findings indicate that many children and adolescents suffer from TBI-associated headaches yearly. In addition, the prevalence of headache following mild TBI appears to follow a pattern we see in primary headache disorders such as a migraine."

The researchers observed that the prevalence of headaches in the year after an injury was mainly tied to the severity of the injury (whether it was a mild, moderate, or severe TBI, with mild injuries having the highest rate of headaches), the time after the injury, gender, and age.

"What parents need to know is that some children with TBI may have headaches for several weeks or months after TBI, but that most recover with time," said Dr. Blume. "And significantly, girls and teenagers appear to be at particular risk for headaches after mild TBI. Parents should be aware of what to expect after mild TBI, which may come from a sports-related injury."

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Schools are more likely to offer students 150 minutes of physical education per week if located in a state or district that mandates that level of P.E., according to a study published online today in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

The study's authors, based out of the University of Illinois at Chicago, worked off the National Association of Sport and Physical Education's recommendation that elementary students should be offered at least 150 minutes of phys. ed. each week. According to the study, less than 20 percent of 3rd graders were offered that level of phys. ed. in the 2007-08 school year.

The researchers collected data through surveys between the 2006-07 and 2008-09 school years, with a sample size of 1,761 public elementary schools in 47 states. Out of those 47 states, 39 did not have a daily-recess law, and 24 had no state law requiring physical education in schools.

From their data, they discovered that if a school was located in a state or district that mandated 150 minutes of physical education per week, that school was more than twice as likely to offer that level of P.E. Of the 1,761 schools in the study, 17.9 percent of them offered the recommended minimum of 150 minutes of physical education per week.

The researchers also found that when state laws suggest 20 minutes of recess for students on a daily basis, schools were nearly twice as likely to follow along; however, district policies weren't found to have any significant impact. Roughly 70 percent of the schools in the study offered students recess for at least 20 minutes per day.

That said, the authors did discover an inverse effect between the amount of physical education time and recess time offered per day in schools. More specifically: Schools that achieved the recommended 150 minutes of phys. ed. per week were less likely to offer 20 minutes a day of recess and vice versa.

"Schools and/or districts appear to compensate for any increased physical activity in one area by decreasing other physical-activity opportunities," the authors conclude.

In all, 32 states permit schools or districts to allow students to substitute other activities for the required physical education credit, according to NASPE's 2010 Shape of the Nation report.

"We found that mandates for both physical education and recess are needed to help elementary school students meet the national recommendations for physical activity," said lead researcher Sandy J. Slater in a statement.

The authors surmised that schools may be cutting physical-activity time to add instructional time, to the potential detriment of their students.

Given the positive correlation between students' fitness and academic success, the researchers believe that schools need more education about the cognitive benefits of physical activity for students.

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When Wayne Hills (N.J.) High School's football team takes the field for the state championship game tomorrow night, don't expect to see the nine high school football players who sued the district earlier in the week over suspensions stemming from an out-of-school fight.

After a state judge ruled Thursday to uphold the suspensions, the final decision rested with state education Commissioner Christopher Cerf. The players' lawyers were not optimistic that Cerf would overturn the judge's decision, according to The Record.

As it turned out, the players' lawyers had reason to be skeptical.

Cerf issued a statement today explaining that he would uphold the suspensions, banning the players' from playing in the state title game tomorrow.

Cerf agreed with the judge's ruling that the players did not satisfy all prongs of Crowe v. DeGioia, and thus, he denied the request to have their suspensions temporarily lifted.

The judge did agree with the players' lawyers' argument that holding the students out from the championship game could cause irreparable harm. The missing players will be easily identifiable, which could have negative effects on their chances of landing a college scholarship, the lawyers argued.

However, the players did not prove that "the legal right underlying their claim is well settled, that they have a likelihood of success on the merits of their underlying appeal, and that the balance of interests and equities under the circumstances rests in their favor," the judge ruled.

Commissioner Cerf's decision can be appealed in Superior Court, according to The Record, although the players' lawyers were doubtful that the case could be heard in time for the 7 p.m. kickoff tomorrow.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The Philadelphia Phillies may not have won the World Series this year, but first baseman Ryan Howard should still have plenty of young fans around the city this holiday season.

Howard announced Thursday that his Ryan Howard Family Foundation would be donating athletic sportswear valued at $1.15 million to the school district of Philadelphia. Fifty-seven high schools will benefit from the donation by receiving athletic footwear and uniforms that match the schools' colors, and four middle schools in the district will also receive athletic shoes.

"I am honored to announce this generous gift from Philadelphia Phillie Ryan Howard and his family, which will help our city's students to have pride in their schools and be prepared to play sports," said Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter in a statement. "This gift from The Ryan Howard Family Foundation is a great example of how individuals and institutions can contribute to the education of our students and root for them on the field."

Howard also announced yesterday that his foundation would be providing turkeys, winter coats, and school supplies to over 500 economically disadvantaged families in the Philadelphia region this holiday season, too.

"This is an exceptional gift from an exceptional athlete and humanitarian," said Leroy Nunery, Philadelphia's acting superintendent. "This gift will make a world of difference to our athletes.

The timing of Howard's announcement couldn't have been much better, as district officials announced the same day that $15 million needed to be trimmed to balance the district's cash-strapped budget, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The district already announced that 69 nurse positions would be cut, saving roughly $5 million, but it needs to cut at least $14 million more, according to officials who spoke with the paper.

Surprise, surprise: Athletics is one of the areas mentioned as a potential target in future rounds of cuts.

Ryan Howard may have just helped save youth sports in the Philadelphia school district with his donation.

Photo: Philadelphia Phillies baseball player Ryan Howard clowns for the cameras after announcing a donation from the Ryan Howard Family Foundation to the School District of Philadelphia during a news conference at City Hall on Dec. 1 in Philadelphia. (Alex Brandon/AP)

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The latest physical-fitness results for California students are in, and the findings aren't pretty.

Only 31 percent of students were able to pass all six components of the state's 2011 Physical Fitness Test, according to findings from the state department of education released yesterday.

Ninety-three percent of all students enrolled in 5th, 7th, and 9th grades—1.34 million in total—took the fitness test this past year. Students were measured in six "fitness areas": aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength, trunk extensor strength, upper-body strength, and flexibility.

Based on their results in the first two areas, students got separated into three categories: in the "healthy-fitness zone" (HFZ), "needs improvement," or "needs improvement-high risk." In the last four fitness areas, students could either be in the HFZ or in the needs-improvement group.

Alarmingly, 34.1 percent of 5th graders, 30.3 percent of 7th graders, and 25 percent of 9th graders all fell into the "needs improvement-high risk" group for their body composition. The report says that "students in this area have the potential for future health problems."

"Today's results are clear: When only 31 percent of children are physically fit, that's a public-health challenge we can't wait to address," state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said in a statement. "That's where our Team California for Healthy Kids campaign can make a world of difference, by helping make healthy choices the easy choices, at school and beyond."

Should We Be Surprised?

After taking a closer examination of the California statistics, these findings likely shouldn't be considered surprising.

First and foremost: As stated in the release from the Calif. education department, a 5-foot-6-inch, 150-pound, 15-year-old male would need to be able to run a mile in under nine minutes, perform 16 or more pushups, and complete at least 24 curl-ups (or "crunches") to fall into the HFZ.

I don't know about you, readers, but my 15-year-old self would have failed that fitness test. (The thought of doing five pushups back then is comical.) The trunk-test requirement—where students lie on their stomachs and raise their torso off the ground using their back muscles—would give me trouble today, even.

The fact is, students could fall into the HFZ in five of the six fitness areas, but if they fall short on one, they aren't counted as "physically fit" in these statistics.

Given that, isn't it somewhat impressive that 31 percent of all students met all six fitness benchmarks? More specifically, 25.2 percent of 5th graders, 32.0 percent of 7th graders, and 36.8 percent of 9th graders fell into the HFZ in all six areas this past year.

Looking Back ... and Forward

How does that compare with years past? The Dept. of Ed. released a chart comparing passing rates on the fitness test from 2006 through 2011, and the older students get, the better the numbers become.

For instance: In 2006, only 27.4 percent of 9th graders were meeting all six fitness benchmarks on the state fitness test. Among 9th graders, 36.8 percent achieved that same accomplishment in 2011. Meanwhile, there's been a 2.4 percent increase in the number of 7th graders passing the test over the past five years and a 0.4 percent decrease in the number of 5th graders passing.

All three grades saw a decline in the number of students who met all six fitness benchmarks from 2010 to 2011, which can largely be attributed to changes in the body-composition requirements for students. Without getting too much into the nitty-gritty, the test reduced the acceptable range of BMIs and body-fat percentages of students.

When applying 2010 standards of body composition, 70.2 percent of 5th graders, 69.7 percent of 7th graders, and 72.4 percent of 9th-graders fell into the HFZ. This year, those numbers dropped across the board, to 52.1 percent, 55.5 percent, and 59.4 percent, respectively. (That's more than a 10 percent drop in each grade.)

Long story short: The numbers presented here aren't necessarily as bleak as they seem. (At least, no more bleak than in years past.)

And with 1.3 million California teens not participating in any school-based physical education whatsoever, as a policy brief released earlier this year by the UCLA Center for Health Policy asserts, it's somewhat miraculous that nearly a third of students completed all six objectives on the statewide fitness test.

With all that said, this blog does tip its hat to Torlakson for taking these fitness results as a call-to-action. We're looking forward to seeing how the state Dept. of Ed. addresses the youth-obesity crisis in California, and what role physical education classes can play.

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Posted by Bryan Toporek at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend