Fitnessgram News & Announcements

For generations, the Presidential Physical Fitness test compared children against a national average. The problem is that children come in all different shapes and sizes, and national averages don?t take that into account.

Every person, based on height, weight, age and gender has a fitness zone, in the Fitness Gram. So a 10-year-old boy who is 4 feet 2 inches and 89 pounds doesn?t have to do the same things as a 10-year-old boy who's a different height and weight in order to be considered fit. It?s based on yourself.

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Almost 30 percent of Lafayette pre-kindergartners are overweight or obese, according to data taken from last year's pre-K classes. Louisiana as a whole has the seventh largest percentage of overweight or obese children in the nation.

More than one-third of the state's children 10 to 17 are overweight or obese, according to the Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning in Lafayette.

The Center hopes to find ways to curb that statistic by piloting a fitness assessment program, called Fitnessgram, in 12 Louisiana school systems. The program began last year in six school systems ? Caddo, DeSoto, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Sabine and West Feliciana.

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A first-of-its-kind study of more than 2.4 million Texas students found that students who are physically fit are more likely to do well on the state's standardized tests and have good school attendance. Fit students are also less likely to have disciplinary referrals.

The findings released today are based on the results of a battery of six FITNESSGRAM® tests taken by students in grades 3-12 during the 2007-2008 school year. The FITNESSGRAM® tool was created by The Cooper Institute of Dallas.

The study analyzed data from 6,532 schools, which represents about 75 percent of the schools in Texas and about 84 percent of the school districts.

"Our state and nation are struggling with obesity, thanks to the combination of increasingly sedentary lifestyles and the declining quality of diets," Gov. Rick Perry said. "We owe it to our children to take the appropriate steps to encourage fitness, steps that are made more clear by the information contained in this first round of testing. I am confident we are on our way to making a difference that will improve and even save lives."

Commissioner of Education Robert Scott said, "Texas is the first state to require an annual physical fitness assessment of public school students. Today's research results show that improving our children's physical fitness can have positive results not only for the children, but for the schools as well.

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According to Ashland University exercise science and physical education professor Beth Patton, who was working with Anderson Wednesday, FitnessGram testing is "criterion-based" and gives students an idea of their individual physical fitness levels compared to previous tests.

"This gets (students) into their own fitness zone, and it will allow us to follow them all the way through high school," said Patton....

"This really gives us a projection of where each student is," [physical education teacher Michael Anderson] said.

• Houstin Chronicle (Texas) 4/3/08 News Article:

• Caller Times (Corpus Christi, Texas) 3/31/08 News Article:

[FITNESSGRAM uses criterion-referenced standards, NOT norms.] If obesity is normal, go against the flow. What we like to consider normal food intake and portions are far from constant. Aside from the differences between mainstream America and other countries, many of our internal definitions of "normal" change from generation to generation.

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• McKinney Courier-Gazette (Texas) 1/8/08 News Article:

Williams [McKinney ISD physical education and health specialist] said the district is anticipating the Fitnessgram assessment will be able to track students from elementary until high school.

"Our district is excited about it," Williams said. "We're jumping into this with both feet. They want to really get the program going."

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• Los Angeles Times (California) 12/7/07 News Article:

California public school students are slightly trimmer and fitter than they were a year ago, but many still are unable to meet the state's basic level of fitness, according to figures released Thursday by the state Department of Education. And students in Los Angeles, especially high school students, were significantly less fit than the state average.

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• Fresno Bee (California) 12/6/07 News Article:

Students in Fresno Unified School District are making strides in physical fitness tests but still lag behind kids in the rest of the state -- most of whom are considered out of shape, statistics released Thursday show.

"While I'm pleased these numbers are moving in the right direction, this annual fitness test serves as an important reminder to all of us that the majority of our students are not in good physical shape," State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said.

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• Press Telegram (California) 12/6/07 News Article:

The California Physical Fitness tests [FITNESSGRAM], given to fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders, measures physical performance on six standards, including body fat levels, overall flexibility, aerobic capacity and abdominal, upper-body and back strength.

All three grades in the LBUSD this year improved their performance, with the largest rise occurring in the fifth and seventh grades, which saw the number of students meeting all standards jump by about 3.7 percentage points relative to last year.

The tests include a battery of physical exercises and measurements to gauge fitness.

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• CBS Evening News with Katie Couric 11/8/2007 News Segment:

Beginning next spring Texas will become the first state in the nation to require at least 30 minutes a day of PE - and require all 4 million students third through 12th graders to undergo a series of annual fitness tests to see how they compare now and later to other kids their age.

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• Houston Chronicle (Texas) 10/25/2007 News Article:

The Texas Education Agency recently mandated that students in grades three through 12 participate in a yearly physical fitness assessment called the Fitnessgram.

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• The Daily Times (Maryland) 9/20/2007 News Article:  

State [Delaware] administrators have implemented the Fitnessgram program in all public and charter schools. Fitnessgram is a criteria-based test that recognizes that all children are not alike.

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• Austin American-Statesman (Texas) 6/13/2007 News Article:

The software helps physical education teachers tailor activities based on individual fitness needs; for example, it might recommend aerobic exercises for classes whose students are overweight.

Aggregate data will be collected and reported to the TEA to determine whether the increased activity affects students' performance in the classroom, and that information will be available to the public, agency officials said.

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• Statesville Record & Landmark (North Carolina) 6/2/2007 News Article:

The program test strength, speed, endurance and flexibility. They are tested at the start of the year and again at the end.

"With this test we've seen a lot more success and kids seem to like it better," she said.

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• The Wichita Eagle (Kansas) 5/22/2007 News Article:

At College Hill, Stenzel has produced a "FitnessGram" for each student's parents. The report has fitness testing results, the student's body mass index and explanations of what the numbers mean.

Joni Simonsen, parent of a third-grade student at College Hill Elementary, said the report was "beneficial to me as a parent, to know where my child is."

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• Star-Telegram (Texas) 5/20/2007 News Article:

Under the legislation, the Texas Education Agency would be asked to adopt a testing tool that measures aerobic capacity, body composition, muscular strength, endurance and flexibility. It must also take into consideration a student's age and gender in determining the best fitness level for each child.

The wording in the bill that describes the required testing tool mirrors language on the Web site for Cooper's FitnessGram, developed in 1982 to measure health and fitness levels of children. Since then, it has been used to test more than 8 million students nationwide.

It is used by California, New York City and Fort Worth schools, according to Todd Whitthorne, president and chief operating officer of Cooper Concepts, an arm of the Cooper Institute. Last year, 67,152 schools across the country used the FitnessGram, he said.

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• AOL News 5/10/2007 News Article:

In a California Department of Education study looking at 5th, 7th, and 9th graders, based on the well-respected Fitnessgram, the students that were the most fit also performed the best on math and reading assessments.

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• Delaware Department of Education 5/4/2007 Press Release:

"The Fitnessgram is an individual assessment for each child," said Deputy Secretary of Education Nancy Wilson, Ph.D. "Proclaimed by the National Association of Sports and Physical Education as the best test to measure physical fitness, we chose this assessment so parents could see a more detailed analysis of their child's fitness and to use the recommendations provided to improve or maintain their child's health."

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• NYC Department of Education 5/2/2007 Press Release:

Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today accepted the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) Ross Merrick National Recognition Award for achievement in physical education. Presented to Chancellor Klein by NASPE President Dr. Craig Buschner at a ceremony at P.S. 19 in Manhattan, the award recognizes the Department of Education's work in developing a comprehensive physical education program, piloting the Physical Best curriculum, training thousands of physical education teachers, and implementing the NYC Fitnessgram at more than 700 schools.

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• Winston County Journal (Mississippi) 4/25/2007 News Article:

McCool noted that the FitnessGram assessment is an initiative to measure the overall health of the students with tests on flexibility, strength and body composition through a series of 20 exercises. The test was given prior to the health programs and will soon give a follow-up with the hope of seeing improvement in the students' overall health.

The programs are all in line with a new district policy on wellness that was implemented this year by the district and state, according to McCool.That policy calls for educating students about the importance of nutrition, lifelong physical activity and introduction of healthier snacks and drinks into school vending machines.

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• Montgomery Advertiser (Alabama) 4/17/2007 News Article:

Carver Elementary: Fifth-graders will participate in "Fitnessgram" today. It is a pilot program sponsored by Auburn Montgomery and Steps to a Healthier Alabama aimed at assessing the fitness levels of students.

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• NYC Department of Education 6/22/2006 Press Release:

The New York City Department of Education (DOE) today announced the release of more than 235,000 NYC FITNESSGRAM reports to parents and students. The individualized reports, based on the results of standards-based fitness assessments, show whether a student is in a "Healthy Fitness Zone" and include recommendations for improving health-related fitness.

More than 600 elementary schools and 40 middle and high schools were invited to participate in the NYC FITNESSGRAM this year. Nearly every elementary school with a dedicated physical education teacher participated.

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• West Virginia Department of Education 10/28/2005 Press Release:

"Fitnessgram is a fairer physical assessment in that it provides a wider range of avenues for students to be tested," said State Board President Dr. Lowell Johnson. "Students with disabilities will find it much more user-friendly, whereas the Presidential Challenge limited students in the way they were assessed."

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• West Virginia Department of Education 8/5/2005 Press Release:

"Physical activity education is our ultimate goal," said Bane McCracken, physical education coordinator for the West Virginia Department of Education. "Fitnessgram allows students to improve their fitness through exercise during their middle school years and it allows teachers to spend more time teaching skills and less time testing."

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