The Honorable Robert F.

McDonnell
Office of the Governor
Patrick Henry Building, 3rd Floor
1111 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219

March 22, 2011

Dear Governor McDonnell,

As Virginia’s leading public health and community organizations, we respectfully request

that you sign SB 966 (Northam) on behalf of Virginia’s children. This critically important
legislation would help make our children in elementary and middle school healthier and
more active by ensuring they receive 150 minutes of physical education each week.

Why Virginia’s children need this legislation

Virginia is facing a public health crisis that is costing our state and our children:
• Nearly one in three Virginia children is overweight or obese.i
• Virginia's direct obesity-attributable health care costs reached more than $1.6
billion in 2003, with $374 million in Medicaid expenses – those numbers have
continued to spiral upward. The national cost of childhood obesity is estimated to
be about $14 billion annually.ii
• Annually, the average total health expenses for a child treated for obesity under
Medicaid is $6,730, while the average health cost for all children covered by
Medicaid is $2,446. The average total health expenses for a child treated for
obesity under private insurance is $3,743, while the average health cost for all
children covered by private insurance is $1,108.iii
• Overweight children have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight adultsiv.
In fact, more than nine million otherwise eligible young adults in America are
unable to serve in the military because they are overweight, according to a 2010
report by the non-profit Mission: Readiness.v
• The childhood obesity crisis is affecting a disproportionate number of African
American and Hispanic children.vi African American and Hispanic children are
developing Type 2 diabetes at much higher rates than their Caucasian peers.
Nearly half are at risk of developing diabetes.vii
• There is also an educational cost to obesity. Several studies show overweight
children were absent on average 20 percent more than their normal-weight
peers, and as BMI increases so does the risk of absenteeism.viii

Benefits of signing this legislation

If you sign this legislation, you will:
• Take action to address Virginia’s childhood obesity crisis, with a solution
supported by national organizations including the American Heart Association,
the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, the American
Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association for Sport and Physical
Education (NASPE), the National Association of State Boards of Education
(NASBE), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Institute of
Medicine.
• Ensure that Virginia’s children learn the skills they need to incorporate physical
activity into their daily lives.
 Governor McDonnell
March 22, 2011
Page 2

• Show leadership on an issue of national importance.

• Help set Virginia’s kids up for success, even in academics. Research shows that
more time in physical education can lead to improved grades and standardized
test scores.ix Healthy children learn better.

Other important facts about this legislation

This legislation does NOT require schools to:
• Hire more teachers. While it is preferred that physical education be delivered by
a PE Specialist, classroom teachers can teach physical education in grades K-8.
• Add more time to the school day.
• Sacrifice art, music or other classes.
• Build more facilities.

Virginia’s educators are capable of implementing this legislation by the 2014-2015

school year. In fact, school schedules show that elementary school children in your
home town, Virginia Beach, already receive 30 to 45 minutes of physical education daily,
and still have art, music and other classes. Because the law does not go into effect until
the 2014-2015 school year, we are confident that school divisions can use those three
years to determine the best way to ensure children get 150 minutes of physical
education per week.

For further information, please contact Cathleen Grzesiek at the American Heart
Association at cathleen.grzesiek@heart.org or Keenan Caldwell at the American Cancer
Society at keenan.caldwell@cancer.org.

We appreciate your consideration and hope that you will accept this opportunity to
demonstrate leadership on this pressing public health issue. Make the health of
Virginia’s children a priority. Please sign SB 966 without amendments.

Sincerely,

American Academy of Pediatrics – Virginia Chapter

American Cancer Society
American Heart Association
The YMCA’s of Virginia
American Lung Association of Virginia
Faces of HOPE
Medical Society of Virginia
School Nutrition Association of Virginia
Virginia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance
Virginia Association of Health Plans
Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
Virginia Diabetes Council
Virginia Recreation and Park Society
 Governor McDonnell
March 22, 2011
Page 3

i
http://vaperforms.virginia.gov/indicators/healthfamily/obesity.php
ii
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/causes/economics.html
iii
F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America. Washington, D.C.: Trust for America’s Health and the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation, 2010.http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2010/;
http://www.medstat.com/pdfs/childhood_obesity.pdf
iv
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_adolescents.htm
v
Mission Readiness: Military Leaders for Kids. Too Fat to Fight: Retired Military Leaders Want Junk Food Out of
America’s Schools. Washington, D.C.: Mission Readiness, 2010.
vi
http://www.letsmove.gov/pdf/TaskForce_on_Childhood_Obesity_May2010_FullReport.pdf
vii
http://www.healthiergeneration.org/about.aspx?id=3439
viii
Geier AB, et. al. The Relationship Between Relative Weight and School Attendance. Obesity 2007. 15:2157-2161.
ix
Active Living Research. Active Education: Physical Education, Physical Activity and Academic Performance, Research
Brief 2009; www.activelivingresearch.org