The California Department of Education reported that only 31 percent of students statewide posted healthy scores in all six areas of the latest Physical Fitness Test.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson called the test results “a public health challenge we can't wait to address.”
The 2011 Physical Fitness Test was administered to 1.34 million students representing 93 percent of pupils enrolled in fifth, seventh and ninth grades. In Lake County, approximately 1,935 students in all three grades were tested.
Students were tested in six fitness areas: aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength, trunk extensor strength, upper body strength and flexibility.
A score in the Healthy Fitness Zone, or HFZ – meaning that the student passed all six fitness standards – indicates the student's level of fitness is sufficient for good health.
For all six areas of the 2011 test results showed that 25.2 percent of fifth-grade students statewide were in the HFZ, compared to 29 percent in 2010; 32 percent of seventh grade students were in the HFZ, compared to 35 percent in 2010; and 36.8 percent of ninth-grade students were in the HFZ, compared to 38.7 percent in 2010.
In Lake County, students meeting all six fitness standards included 24.8 percent of fifth graders and 25.5 percent of seventh graders, with both groups falling under the state average.
However, Lake County’s ninth graders scored 37.6 percent, just over the state’s average score for that grade level.
The state said that to score in the HFZ the test requires that a 5-foot, 6-inch, 150-pound, 15-year-old ninth grade male run a mile within nine minutes, perform at least 16 push-ups and do at least 24 curl-ups.
The research showed that body composition is perhaps the most important indicator of who will develop future health problems.
“We have always had this silent epidemic of childhood obesity in the state,” California Department of Education spokesperson Tina Jung told Lake County News. “These are the very first indicators where we’re able to measure this.”
The state report showed that 52.1 percent of fifth graders, 55.5 percent of seventh graders and 59.4 percent of ninth graders statewide met the HFZ for body composition.
By comparison, 53 percent of Lake County’s fifth graders were in the HFZ for body composition, while 53.9 of seventh graders and 64.2 percent of ninth graders met that healthy standard.
Lake County Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook said he’s concerned about physical education having to compete for precious instructional minutes with areas like language and math, where state and federal officials have placed increased emphasis.
His perception is that physical education has lost some of those instructional minutes, and he suggested that the pendulum can’t swing too far one way toward some subjects without affecting other areas of education.
“That’s one of those real delicate balances,” he said.
Jung said all of the fitness testing boils down to an important truth for students: “If you’re healthier, you learn better.”
To address the fitness levels of the state’s children, Torlakson – who has has coached high school cross country athletes – launched the Team California for Healthy Kids effort.
The program’s three major goals are to increase physical activity, especially moderate to vigorous physical activity throughout every day in schools and communities; increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables in meals and snacks in early childhood and after-school programs, and in salad bars in schools; and increase access to drinking water.
Torlakson’s office reported that athletes and others involved in the campaign will visit schools throughout the state to encourage local efforts to increase physical activity and increase access to water, fresh fruits and vegetables.
In Lake County, there already are successful efforts to increase students’ access to nutritious foods, said Holbrook.
As an example, he pointed to the Kelseyville Unified School District’s food program, led by Michelle Malm, which recently was profiled by CBS News.
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