Reconsidering current objectives for physical activity within physical education.

26 Children’s participation in physical activity (PA) has important positive benefits for 27 their health and academic outcomes. Within the school day, physical education (PE) 28 is increasingly endorsed as a key time for children to accumulate PA. Despite this 29 increasing emphasis, research papers and policy documents frequently identify PE 30 lessons as ‘not active enough’. However, contemporary objectives for sufficient PA in 31 PE may not be based on the highest quality evidence. Furthermore, while the 32 objectives appear compatible, they contain profound differences. Continued pursuit 33 of these objectives may be detrimental to achieving positive experiences of PA in 34 PE. For instance, an exclusive focus on PA objectives may encourage teachers to 35 prioritise fitness-based activities over others that young people enjoy. Pursuing 36 short-term goals for PA also risks investing limited lesson time to develop important 37 elements of physical literacy that only become developed after prolonged 38 engagement and practice. Importantly, what is at stake is not only achieving 39 sufficient PA in PE, but also encouraging lifelong participation in PA and the long40 term health of today’s children. 41