Instead, physical education professionals must remain more directly involved to prevent the more athletically inclined students from excluding those students who are less athletically inclined. More importantly, it is the role of the modern physical education professional to recognize that the traditional sports that have always been the main staples of physical education may not necessarily interest all students. Instead of restricting the available choices to those traditional games and activities, physical education teachers must initiate sufficient interaction with students to understand their preferences and to provide them with possible options that interest them more than the relatively few options within the framework of traditional physical education programs. Similarly, it is not helpful for physical education professionals to focus their efforts on the students who are most naturally inclined to doing well in sports. This is a natural tendency of physical education professionals because it is more rewarding to work with students who can easily grasp what they are being taught. Therefore, it is important for physical education professionals to recognize that they have as much of a responsibility to meet the needs of less physically-inclined students as those of students who are naturally more athletic and more gifted in sports.

Application to Primary School Teaching

Applying the concepts of healthy childhood physical education habits and principles to primary school health and physical education programs means, among other things, that physical education teachers, and other teachers more generally, must take a more comprehensive or "holistic" view of physical education and the physical health of all of their students. It is not longer acceptable to allow students to direct their own activities and participation in physical education. At the other end of the spectrum, it is also no longer appropriate to focus on mandatory participation for the mere sake of participation, especially with regard...

Applying the modern concepts of physical education that are conducive to the health and happiness of all students means that physical education teachers must make the additional effort to get to know their students well enough to learn what their likes and dislikes are. In that way, they are in the best possible position to devise physical education programs and activities that might genuinely interest certain students who are less interested in the traditional physical education activities.
Similarly, the modern physical education professional must understand that his or her job consists of much more than just overseeing students during the time they are actually involved in physical education classes. Foe example, modern physical education professionals receive extensive training in nutrition and healthy body weight maintenance. It is their responsibility not to ignore the needs of students who are obviously beginning to have problems in connection with becoming overweight or obese in childhood. Physical education teachers have a unique opportunity and obligation to intervene appropriately when they become aware that a student in their class is having weight problems. They must get involved by getting to know the student and ascertaining what factors are responsible for the problem. In that respect, they might have to refer the child to a nutritionist and arrange for consultations with the child's family to emphasize the importance of nutrition and offer assistance in connection with that problem as well.