The purpose of this article is to summarize the developing role and the challenges facing the British primary and secondary education sector in the promotion of children's health-enhancing physical activity. This is in the context of a public agenda on physical activity for health that grew steadily in stature throughout the 1990s and has accelerated dramatically in recent years. The government's Health Education Authority developed guidelines for adult physical activity for health in 1994 (Killoran, Fentem, & Casperson, 1994) and launched a national media campaign to promote physical activity in adults in 1998. In 1997, a consensus conference entitled Young and Active produced recommendations for health-enhancing activity for young people (Biddle, Sallis, & Cavill, 1998). There were clear parallels with the formulations of the statement from the Centers for Disease Control in the United States (Pate et al., 1995) and the subsequent publication of the U.S. Surgeon General's Report on physical activity (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996), the reactions to which are a primary feature of this issue. Indeed, many of the influential exercise scientists behind these developments also contributed to similar progress in the United Kingdom. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)