New Report Shows How Many Students Meet Fitness Goals

About 47 percent of Grossmont Unified High School District students and about 30 percent of Santee School District (SSD) students received healthy scores across the board in a state fitness test, compared to one in three California students, officials announced Thursday.

"Nothing is more important than the health of our children, and today's results show that many of them need a helping hand to get fit and stay in shape," State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said in a statement.

The annual FITNESSGRAM tests gauge fifth-, seventh- and ninth-grade students' fitness in six areas: aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength, trunk extensor strength, upper body strength and flexibility.

In the tests, students perform exercises such as a one-mile run, curl-ups, push-ups, shoulder stretches and modified pull-ups. Students' body mass index (BMI) also is measured.

Officials say the aerobic capacity tests are the best indicator of a student's fitness, and about 5out of 10 SSD students scored in the "Healthy Fitness Zone" (HFZ) in that area. For example, a 12-year-old girl would need to run one mile in less than 12 minutes to be in the HFZ for that aerobic test. A 12-year-old boy, on the other hand, would need to run it in less than 10 1/2 minutes.

Torlakson on Thursday also announced a statewide campaign—Team California for Healthy Kids—to improve fitness, co-chaired by a UCLA health professor Dr. Toni Yancy, former UCLA and NBA star Bill Walton, Super Bowl champion William "Bubba" Paris and "Ultramarathon Man" Dean Karnazes.

Check your own student's school here, and see statistical details in the PDFs in the media box.

GUHSD:

Santee School District:

*Source: California Department of Education, 2009-10 California Physical Fitness Report for the Poway Unified School District.