A four-year, $37 million state program to improve physical education at high-poverty middle schools failed to reduce obesity rates, according to a study by the University of Texas at Austin.
The program, Texas Fitness Now, primarily gave money to schools to buy sports and gym equipment from 2007 to 2011. One-quarter of the money was originally meant for nutrition, but a much smaller ratio — about 7 percent of the funds in 2009 and 2010 — went to schools for healthy eating initiatives, the study’s lead author said.
