HB 128-SCHOOLS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY TASK FORCE  CHAIR DYSON announced HB 128 to be up for consideration. SHALON SZYMANSKI, staff to Representative Lesil McGuire, introduced the bill: According to the American Obesity Association, more than 30 percent of United States children and adolescents are overweight or obese. Studies show that overweight children are more likely to become overweight adults with a variety of health problems including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and high cholesterol. According to a recent study by the Anchorage school district, 36 percent of Anchorage students are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education recommends that elementary school students receive at least 150 minutes of Physical Education (PE) per week and that middle and high-school students receive at least 225 minutes of PE per week. The center for disease control recommends at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day. Despite all of these recommendations from the experts, the Anchorage, Valdez, and Fairbanks school districts are requiring that only middle school students receive daily physical activity. Elementary students in these school districts receive only two 30 to 40 minute PE sessions per week and in the four years that a student is in high school; he is required to only take a year and a half of PE in order to graduate. These levels of PE are clearly much lower than what is recommended by PE and health experts. This task force, if established, would be made up of school officials from rural and urban areas, physicians and members of the Department of Education and Early Development and legislators. We recognize that different schools have different facilities available for PE and it would be up to this task force to determine an effective and economical way to increase PE within the existing school infrastructure. This task force would also look into whether new laws or regulations are necessary to provide more physical activities in the schools and whether construction requirements should be changed to facilitate PE. Many other state legislatures are taking similar steps in addressing the problem of overweight children and Alaska should consider following in their footsteps. Establishing this taskforce would be a step in the right direction. CHAIR DYSON asked Ms. Szymanski how the task force could be established with a zero fiscal note. 2:59:11 PM MS. SZYMANSKI responded the taskforce would meet only by teleconference so there would not be any associated travel expenses. The fiscal note shows that the Legislature would absorb the communications costs. The task force would be comprised only of volunteers and there are currently many who are willing to volunteer. SENATOR WILKEN asked Ms. Szymanski what she envisions to be the deliverable of this taskforce. MS. SZYMANSKI responded Representative McGuire hopes to develop strategies within the school system to get kids to be more physically active and to adopt healthier diets. 3:01:27 PM SENATOR WILKEN said the suggestions of a volunteer nine-member task force would probably not have any affect on such a nebulous problem as juvenile obesity. SENATOR GREEN agreed with Senator Wilken and remarked that over the years she has been incredibly disappointed with many of the fact-finding committees that have met during the interim. She said the proposed actions of the taskforce should be restricted to the purview of the State School Board since it has a much greater resource base with which to address the problem. She added the timeframe of the bill is unrealistic. 3:06:00 PM SENATOR ELTON voiced support for bringing a Legislative focus to the issue. He said the bill could draw attention and since it does not have a fiscal note, it is worth doing. CHAIR DYSON said most of what needs to be done is common sense. School districts are under immense pressure from high stakes tests such as the high-school exit exam and the No Child Left Behind mandate and they would not want to divert valuable time and resources from those endeavors. 3:09:16 PM JEANNE ANGLIN, Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), supported HB 128. She recommended the committee adopt an amendment to include a DHSS representative on the task force since the department has considerable interest and expertise in dealing with chronic diseases such as obesity. SENATOR OLSON asked the sponsor whether she would like to address the concerns of the committee. MS. ANGLIN responded the bill would not be a stand-alone solution to the problem, but it would help to the organize entities involved in addressing the problems. CHAIR DYSON asked whether academic achievement is correlated with increased hours of PE in the curriculum. EMILY NENAN, Alaska Government Relations for the American Cancer Society, supported HB 128. She said the purpose of the task force would be to elevate the discussion and recognize that it is a high level priority for the state. Many organizations support the task force as a means of corroborating on data pertinent to the problems of juvenile inactivity. There is data that suggests healthy children learn better. CHAIR DYSON held HB 128 in committee. There being no further business to come before the committee, he adjourned the meeting at 3:19:35 PM.