The number of overweight children in America has more than tripled since I was in elementary school. Yet in some gym classes, kids still spend much of the period sitting around waiting for their turn to kick a ball.

Children need at least an hour of exercise every day, but, according to my daughters' pediatrician, gym "doesn't count" because in most classes, the average student gets very little exercise once you subtract the time spent changing clothes, waiting for his or her turn or standing in the outfield or on the volleyball court.

PE needs to change with the times. In today's sedentary society, where at least 15 percent of kids ages 6-19 are overweight, gym teachers should place less emphasis on teamwork and the rules of sports and focus on getting all kids to be more active. For example, why not let the kids who don't want to play kickball jump rope or walk laps around the gym?

New York state requires at least 120 minutes per week of physical education for all public school students. Those in Grades K-3 are supposed to have PE on a daily basis, and students in Grades 4-6 are required to have it no less than three times a week. However, not all of this "physical education" is happening in gym class. Oneonta students have gym two or three times a week, and, according to Center Street Elementary School Principal John Cook, who is also director of physical education for the Oneonta City School District, schools are allowed to meet part of the PE requirement through activities led by classroom teachers, such as going for a walk or playing outside.

There's a bill in the state Senate that would increase the minimum PE requirement to 150 minutes per week for elementary schools and 225 minutes per week for secondary schools. This may sound like a step in the right direction, but without more resources, a change in philosophy and some measure of accountability, it won't accomplish much.

Requiring a PE class every day for all students would be logistically impossible for schools with one gym teacher, especially schools such as Center Street, where the gym is also the cafeteria. And more PE time does not necessarily translate into more exercise. According to a recent Cornell University study, the average high school student gets 16 minutes of exercise in a typical gym class. The study found that adding another 200 minutes of PE time per week resulted in boys spending just 7½ more minutes being active; for girls, the additional 200 minutes of PE meant about 8 more minutes of activity per week.

What our schools really need is the money to hire more gym teachers and develop better PE curricula. Classroom teachers should not be responsible for PE, and gym teachers need to find innovative ways to get all kids exercising. Those who are already doing this deserve credit. Take Oneonta Middle School PE teacher Jennifer Stark, for example. Last year, Stark offered dance and aerobics units. In the dance unit, the girls learned basic swing dance steps and then divided into groups and choreographed their own routines, to music of their choosing.

This year, Stark gave her students pedometers and took them walking on the track and in Wilber Park. She plans to use the pedometers for at least one day in every unit, and at the end of the year the students will graph which activities required the most steps. Stark said she and colleague Tom Marks also hope to get parents involved by starting a "walking club," where students can get extra credit by walking with their families outside of school.

If there was ever an issue demanding that schools, parents and the community work together, obesity is it. Parents are ultimately responsible for making sure their kids get enough exercise. Besides being good role models, limiting TV and computer time and initiating family fitness activities, parents should take advantage of what our community has to offer. Kids today have more choices than ever, from traditional programs such as Little League to newer organizations such as Girls on the Run, where girls in Grades 3-6 learn about setting goals and making positive choices while training to complete a 5K race.

If we all work together, we can turn the obesity epidemic around. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that our school gym teachers lead the way.

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Lisa Miller is a freelance writer who lives in Oneonta. She can be reached at lisamiller44@hotmail.com.