Cross-country running in schools could be a form of child abuse that breaches human rights, teenagers have been told.
A textbook used in citizenship classes claims the traditional activity is a form of physical abuse.
The guide, which tells pupils their legal rights, suggests cross-country is as damaging as bullying.
PE teachers and health experts yesterday described the guide as 'indefensible'.
More than 30,000 copies of the book have been sold to schools across Britain by Coordination Group Publications, one of the country's biggest educational publishers.
The guide is targeted at 14 to 16-year-olds and designed for use in citizenship lessons, which became compulsory in secondary schools four years ago.
In a chapter titled 'Your Legal Rights', pupils are told: 'You have the right to be protected from emotional or physical abuse.'
The book goes on to give just two examples - bullying and cross-country runs.
But the Association for Physical Education, representing 3,500 PE teachers, branded the guide 'nonsense'. Its chief executive, Professor Margaret Talbot, said: 'It is indefensible to equate crosscountry with child abuse without any qualification.
'It is a nonsense. Cross-country in schools today is properly organised and supervised and there is no question of child abuse.'
Meanwhile doctors warned that misguided concern over human rights could threaten children's long-term health.
Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of the charity Weight Concern, said: 'This is absolutely mad and I can't imagine where they got it from. If they are suggesting physical activity of this nature is against human rights, what will they try to do next? One could say the same about a maths class.
'Schools should lead by example and encouraging physical activity is really important. Cross-country is a valid example of the sort of exercise children should be doing.
'Getting out of the classroom on to an open field and some fresh air has huge benefits.'
Details of the textbook emerged as ministers face a growing public backlash over the Human Rights Act, which has already been criticised for restricting teachers' authority to discipline pupils.
An influential committee of MPs and peers has warned that frogmarching unruly children out of classrooms by the arm could infringe their right to privacy, dignity and physical integrity. But a spokesman for Coordination Group Publications told the Sunday Telegraph the guide was a 'light-hearted' attempt to promote debate. She added: 'We are trying to make serious subjects accessible to young people.'
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