The Maryland Senate advanced a measure yesterday that would create a task force to study mandating a minimum amount of physical activity or education for students in public schools.

The bill would have required schools to provide students in kindergarten through eighth grade with at least 2 1/2 hours of physical activity a week, but lawmakers changed the bill to study the issue, noting concerns that it would be too expensive and require the hiring of more teachers. The bill also would have required high school students to complete two years of physical education to graduate.

The task-force bill still needs a final vote in the Senate; the House of Delegates has not acted on a companion measure. Sen. David C. Harrington, a Prince George's County Democrat who said he would introduce the bill again next year, said the state should do something to address what some health advocates are calling an obesity epidemic among young people.

"When we come back next session, we will have legislation that looks at exercise for our children," he said.