Health in physical education

This chapter discusses the variety of ways in which health is represented in physical education. It reflects on physical education teachers’ health-related philosophies and practices. The chapter considers how principles and paradoxes associated with promoting active lifestyles can lead to evidence-based health-related teaching and learning. Physical education has a long-standing relationship with health, given its physical dimension and the growing evidence that physical activity provides physical, mental and social health benefits. National curricula for physical education around the world include health-related aims such as promoting active lifestyles. Physical education teachers’ philosophies are influenced by their background, experiences and personal characteristics, and are particularly important as they influence their practices. Variability in the expression and effectiveness of health-related teaching and learning in physical education and misalignment between physical education teachers’ health-related philosophies and practices matter because they serve to hinder the promotion of active lifestyles.