Obesity rates in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) students are above the national average. To help combat rising obesity rates, the LAUSD School Board mandated that state physical education (PE) requirements be enforced and implemented beginning with the fall 2009 school year. The purpose of this study was to assess the PE policy in LAUSD, which included an advocacy campaign, the Board resolution to enforce PE policies, and the implementation plan to carry out the resolution. Rapid-response funding was awarded to document the success or failure of the first year of implementation, while school district momentum to implement the policy change was high. The first year provided a unique window of opportunity to assess successes and challenges, and to postulate on the possibility of extending such a policy change to other school districts. Physical activity levels were collected using observational PE class data and interviews with school personnel. Main outcome measures were time spent in PE, time active during PE and class size. Stakeholder surveys were used to measure the strategies, successes, and challenges of the advocacy campaign.
