Count ours among the swelling chorus of voices rising in objection to state education policy-makers' recent decision to remove health curriculum from the list of requirements to graduate from high school in Texas.

This was a bad call. Texas high school students now find themselves among a shrinking minority of secondary students nationwide who are no longer required to learn the basics about good health habits, such as proper nutrition, as well as the facts about the consequences of destructive behaviors such as smoking and drug and alcohol abuse. With all due respect to those involved in the decision, this seems a thoroughly benighted choice — one that stands to shorten young Texans' lives simply because they are uninformed about health basics, while making them less healthy and able to contribute to our future .

We're also disappointed that requirements for a semester of physical education have been dropped. The cumulative effect of this de-emphasis on physical activity and health is, to us, self-evidently harmful.

Public education is mainly about teaching the 21st-century version of the traditional Three R's, and teaching it well. But it also must be about offering young Texans, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds, basic life and citizenship skills. Among these, we would contend, are a rudimentary knowledge of topics covered in traditional health and physical education classes, as well as other practical-minded subjects such as personal finance.

National trends showing an epidemic of obesity among our young make the case for increasing, rather than decreasing, the emphasis on physical activity in our schools. The trends argue forcefully, as well, for requiring high school grads to have a basic knowledge of nutrition and diet.

If we think of the purpose of education as helping young people to assemble a tool kit to live better lives, these would seem to be essential tools.

Surely there is a creative way for imaginative teachers to keep health courses among the requirements for Texas high school students. Perhaps the traditional health curriculum could find its way into science courses. And exercises such as calculating the number of calories in a healthy diet could be taught in math classes. The point is to teach them rather than leaving that important work to chance.

While we're at it: It is wrong to view this discussion as a kind of “Survivor” competition between health and fine arts curricula . To meet the 21st-century world successfully, young Texans will need strong backgrounds in both areas.

We urge our state's education policy-makers, starting with Education Commissioner Robert Scott, to reconsider their decision to eliminate health courses as part of graduation requirements for Texas high schools. While recognizing that budgets are tight, we believe there is a strong and clearly identifiable cost/benefit in mandating completion of these courses.