IU, Chinese officials to create plan for physical activity

Chinese officials will meet with IU and U.S. officials Wednesday through Friday to develop a blueprint for a physical activity plan for China’s schoolchildren.

The conference will include representatives from China’s Sunny Sport Initiative, IU’s School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, the Indiana State Health Department, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other national physical fitness and education organizations, according to a press release.

China’s Sunny Sport Initiative is a plan created by Chinese President Hu Jintao to provide daily physical activity for China’s 270 million schoolchildren.

“Our hope is that the work that we do with China will have direct benefits for the state, if not the nation,” said Lloyd Kolbe, School of HPER’s associate dean for global and community health, in a press release. “The kinds of programs that we can implement in China to improve physical activity and reduce obesity, with some modifications, can be adopted in the state of Indiana and elsewhere.”

The plan drafted in May will be circulated among top Chinese government officials for approval, and then IU and its Chinese partners will seek funding in the United States and China to implement and evaluate the plan.