Physical education teachers are trading in their traditional equipment for heart-rate monitors and video games that encourage running, jumping, and stretching. Taken together, these two trends are transforming P.E. classes across the country and are spurring school officials to vie for millions in grants.

More than 10,000 schools across the country reportedly use heart-rate monitors—wristwatches that calculate a student's heartbeat and heart rate target zone—that make it easier for teachers to track student performance. And a growing number of schools are embracing a new phenomenon known as "exergaming," encouraging students to exercise using video games such as Nintendo's new Wii Fit and Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), in which players mimic dance moves on the screen, requiring constant movement.
 
Advocates of this trend say integrating gaming into gym classes—replacing the monotony of jumping rope or running laps—could increase participation among all students, rather than the sliver of "jocks" in every class. This could help stem the alarming increase in childhood obesity in the United States, experts say, where 16 percent of people ages six to 19 are overweight or obese. That number has more than tripled since 1980, according to health watchdog groups.

"It's motivating for students, it's intriguing to them, it really captures people's attention, and it gives you a vehicle for talking about healthy lifestyles and consistent physical activity patterns," said Fran Cleland, president of the National Association for Sports and Physical Education (NASPE), one of the country's most prominent physical education organizations. "It allows you to do that in a more mechanized way."

Last year, many West Virginia schools bought Dance Dance Revolution games to encourage activity among children who have proven reluctant or unwilling to participate in ordinary team sports, said Susan Promislo, a spokeswoman for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, an organization that includes Health Games Research. West Virginia, one of about 10 states that use DDR in gym classes, was a sensible choice for new P.E. technology, Promislo said. The state has one of the highest obesity rates in the country.

"Kids [who] would not otherwise play sports or get off the sidelines in gym class are finding DDR to be a fun, appealing option that gets them burning calories without feeling like they're exercising," Promislo said.

Cleland, whose Virginia-based organization reportedly represents 16,000 educators, said bringing video-game technology to gym classes could be the next step in what experts call the "new physical education." Teachers said this could include Nintendo's Wii Fit, a brand-new game that encourages workouts on a small balance board that gamers stand on. Players receive instructions from the screen and mimic the stretching and muscle-building exercises.