Out of Shape : Kids Earn a Resounding F in Fitness

Every morning during the school year, Skip Giancanelli watches a group of senior citizens work out on the track at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills. Despite their age, he says, most of them run at least 2 1/2 miles without wheezing, stumbling or complaining.

And that’s what sets them apart from a lot of children in Giancanelli’s physical education classes.

“Just to get the kids to run is a chore,” says Giancanelli, who also coaches football at El Camino Real. “These kids moan, they’re lethargic and they have trouble running around the track even once. Kids used to really get into phys-ed, but now you have to really drive them just to try things, and then when they try, they still can’t do it.”

Although a nationwide re-emphasis on the three Rs in recent years has helped increase test scores in reading and math, no such attention has been directed toward physical education. Meanwhile, children are not getting faster or stronger, studies show. In many cases they’re getting fatter and unhealthier.

No Improvement

The so-called fitness boom has not trickled down to schoolchildren. A recent study by the President’s Council on Physical Fitness concluded that even in the age of aerobics and Nautilus machines, the fitness of children has shown virtually no improvement in the last 10 years and, in the case of girls 14 to 17, has deteriorated.

Another study, this one by the Public Health Service two years ago, found that children are fatter than they were 20 years ago.

George Allen, former coach of pro football’s Washington Redskins and now chairman of the President’s fitness council, said he is “appalled” by the situation. “The best-kept secret in the United States today is youth fitness, or lack of,” he said. “Kids have no endurance, no strength and very little flexibility.

“A lot of boys and girls today can’t even run a mile in 13 minutes. Think about it! Most adults can walk a mile in 11 minutes without straining.”

Lack of Instruction

At the heart of the problem, according to Allen and other authorities on fitness, is that schoolchildren are not receiving the proper instruction in exercise and nutrition. Cutbacks in school budgets, they say, have greatly reduced the quality of physical education, particularly at the elementary school level.

In California, lay teachers have replaced physical education specialists in virtually all public elementary schools, and young children are not being taught the values of good nutrition and physical fitness.

“Life styles are formed by sixth grade,” says John Cates, executive vice president of the privately funded National Fitness Foundation, “but the kids are not really learning anything except how to play on the teeter-totter and the swing.”

And when a child’s life style includes junk food, long hours in front of the television set and an aversion to physical exercise, long-range health problems are almost a certainty. In 1983, nearly half of the 1,500 Los Angeles fourth-graders examined by a UCLA research group exhibited at least one major risk factor of heart disease, arteriosclerosis and stroke, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity.

At least one of the four authors of the study wasn’t surprised by the results. “We were expecting it,” said Dr. Joseph Cullen. “Kids are just not fit these days.”

It’s been 30 years since President Dwight D. Eisenhower became alarmed over the physical condition of youngsters and created the President’s council. During the Vietnam War, President Lyndon B. Johnson boasted of “wholesome and welcome gains” in youth fitness, but the gains apparently were triggered by a rise in physical conditioning among draft-age youths.

Massive Study

A 1985 study by the President’s council showed that youth fitness had reverted to pre-war levels. Although American athletes still dominate on the international level, Allen said the recent study by the President’s council continued to find “major problems in youth fitness.”

The study, designed by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, was the largest of its kind ever undertaken in the United States. It sampled nearly 19,000 boys and girls, ages 6 through 17, from 187 schools throughout the country. The children took part in nine events involving standard athletic skills such as running, jumping and throwing. Some of the results:

- On average, girls aged 14 to 17 performed worse than they had in comparable tests 10 years earlier in eight of the nine events. In the 50-yard dash, for example, the 17-year-old girls’ average time was 8.3 seconds--a half-second slower than in 1975.

- 40% of boys aged 6 to 12 could do no more than one pullup; one out of four could not do any. Boys under 10 should be able to do at least two, say the experts.

- 70% of girls 6 to 17 could not do more than one pullup, and 55% could do none. Girls under 10 should be able to do one, with two the norm for girls 10 to 17.

- 45% of boys 6 to 14 and 55% of girls 6 to 17 could not hold their chin over a raised bar for more than 10 seconds. Girls and boys in that age group should be able to hold themselves up for 30 seconds.

- 50% of girls 6 to 17 and 30% of boys 6 to 12 could not run a mile in less than 10 minutes. Eight- to nine-minute miles should be normal for teens, while younger children should break 10 minutes, according to the experts.

- Girls did not improve with age in upper-body strength; an average 6-year-old girl scored as well as a 17-year-old. Girls have the same capabilities as boys to increase strength as they get older, say the experts.

According to Lou Pebbles, state director of physical education and athletics, the evidence suggests that California schoolchildren are not only following the national trend, but leading it.

“I can’t say it conclusively because we haven’t had the funds to collect the data,” he said, “but it’s my understanding that California is no better than the national figures and probably worse. There’s no doubt that kids are starting off on the wrong foot when it comes to PE. We’re finding that a lot of junior high teachers have to do remedial PE.”

There are at least three major factors involved in the possible decline of youth fitness in California, Pebbles says.

In 1976, the Legislature passed a bill permitting school districts to make physical education optional for 11th and 12th-graders. Barry Terlazzo, PE director for the 700 schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, said that as a result, “a very small percentage of juniors and seniors are taking physical education as an elective. In some schools, it’s perhaps as low as 10%, and overall I’d say it’s 20 to 25%.”

At North Hollywood High, for example, only 216 of 1,248 students in 11th and 12th grades take gym, even though the school has tried to attract students to physical education by offering such sports as “ultimate Frisbee.”

Another setback, according to Pebbles, was Proposition 13, the 1978 tax-cutting initiative that limited money going to education. Among the first departments to feel the squeeze was physical education. About two-thirds of all gym teachers in city schools were either let go or reassigned, Terlazzo said.

The third factor, Pebbles said, is that trained PE instructors have all but vanished from elementary schools. Although well-credentialed teachers such as Giancanelli are still used in California high schools, John Cates says that 97% of the teachers responsible for physical education in California elementary schools have never received any college training in health and fitness.

Teacher Problem

Prospective teachers at Cal State Northridge are required to take only one course in physical education, said Dr. William J. Vincent, curriculum coordinator at the school. “We do our best to prepare them to understand all aspects of PE,” he said, “but they are not well-prepared when they go out.”

What should children be learning about health and fitness in elementary school? “They should be taught aerobics, proper nutrition, the dangers of smoking and using drugs and, above all, that we are responsible for and have to take care of our bodies for our lifetime,” said Dr. Ernst Wynder, president of the American Health Foundation in New York.

“It’s as important to teach kids about that as about math and science. If you teach a kid that his body is important and he takes care of it, he’s much more likely to feel good about himself and do better in school.”

A program developed by Wynder, “Know Your Body,” is being implemented in the Beverly Hills School District, which has always had a progressive reputation; last year it was recognized by the California Assn. of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance as having the most outstanding PE program in the state.

Positive Decisions

“The core of our program is helping the student make positive health decisions based on specialized programs that emphasize risk reduction for chronic diseases,” said Carolyn Fisher, one of the program’s coordinators. “And we’re doing it through physical education.”

Beverly Hills is highly unusual in that PE is required in all four years of high school. The Know Your Body program is taught by specialists to youngsters in kindergarten through 12th grade. It includes voluntary screening for cholesterol and blood pressure and a strong complement of aerobics. By the time a child is in third grade, he knows what his ideal heart rate should be during exercise.

Beverly Hills is also unusual because its PE classes range from 20 students to a high of only 45. In other public schools in the state, Pebbles says, overcrowding has forced physical education teachers to deal more with crowd control than body control.

“I know of PE classes with 80 kids in them,” Pebbles said. “That’s not PE, that’s ‘Here’s the ball, go play.’ ”

Those students who elect not to take gym in their junior and senior years may do so for reasons other than indifference or dislike of exercise. According to Pebbles, budget considerations have forced many schools to eliminate some gym equipment and, maybe even more significant, showers.

“Most secondary schools no longer have showers, or if they do, there’s no money for towels, so a kid has to bring his own,” said Jim Brien, executive director of the California Assn. of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. “You’re not going to get kids enthusiastic about phys-ed if they have to run around, get sweaty and then go directly to English.”

Showering, plus the need to change out of and back into school clothes, are solid deterrents for kids looking for reasons not to take PE. But often disenchantment runs deeper. Vanessa Antill, a ninth-grader at Taft High, is turned off by her school’s PE programs and lack of individual attention.

“PE is a waste of time,” she said. “Some people may be interested in playing softball, but I’m not. And neither are my friends. It’s boring.”

So what does she do during class? “The teacher makes us sit on the bench and watch.”

Like a lot of girls, Vanessa may dislike PE because she’s forced to compete with boys. Title IX of the 1972 Education Act, which barred sex discrimination in schools, had the effect of integrating gym classes. “You might have a class with all boys because of ‘ability grouping,’ but in most gym classes girls and boys are on the same teams,” Pebbles said. As a result, some girls seem less than enthusiastic about gym sports.

Small Steps

It’s not going to be easy to reverse the trend toward a sedentary America, experts say, but small steps at least are being taken. Allen is now trying to raise funds to build a national fitness academy on 200 acres in Orange County that would provide teaching and conduct research aimed at improving youth fitness. And this summer, the National Fitness Foundation will give 100 elementary schoolteachers a free two-week crash course in physical education.

California education officials also recognize the need for a re-emphasis on health and fitness. According to a spokesman for state school Supt. Bill Honig, the Department of Education is about to inaugurate a comprehensive health program to run from kindergarten through 12th grade. The program, which will be similar to the one at Beverly Hills, will focus on nutrition and physical education. The PE curriculum will emphasize cardiovascular development, flexibility, stamina and strength over team-oriented games.

Money, of course, is the biggest obstacle to expanding the curriculum. Brien, of the Assn. of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, estimates, for example, that it would take $60 million a year to reinstate mandatory physical education statewide in the 11th and 12th grades.

For starters, six school districts, including two in Los Angeles County, will be selected as pilots for the expanded state program starting this fall. Amanda Mellinger, the Department of Education’s coordinator of the new program, said that if the pilot programs are successful after three years, statewide implementation will be sought, although choosing curriculums will be left to individual school districts.

The state lottery may be a source of help for some districts, Pebbles says. In its first seven months, the lottery has generated $510 million for public education, which is being parceled out to school districts to spend at their discretion. But physical education is not every district’s top priority. The Los Angeles Unified School District, for example, will build new schools with the money if it can persuade the Legislature to change the law to allow lottery money to be used for capital programs.

Once a person gets out of school, of course, fitness is up to him, and the fitness boom suggests that an out-of-shape child can grow up, buy a pair of jogging shoes and begin to look good. But medical studies indicate that inactive children tend to exhibit some early signs of arteriosclerosis that may be irreversible. Fatty plaque that builds up inside arteries, even among children, may be there for life, and can eventually lead to strokes and other problems.

While exercise and proper diet have been shown to limit the plaque buildup, UCLA researcher Cullen says there is disagreement in the medicial profession on whether exercise and proper diet can eliminate deposits that have already formed.

In any case, it’s clear that healthy habits acquired at a young age reduce the risk of heart trouble and related ailments, and will benefit a person for a lifetime, says Lou Pebbles.

“It’s important for the community to understand that a lot of research has gone into physical fitness,” he said, “and it’s clear that kids who are fit do better in class than kids who aren’t. They’re more alert, they go to school, they’re able to deal with stress.”

To George Allen, more is at stake than merely saving children from a life of weight-watching, fatigue and clogged arteries. Allen, who often resorted to theatrics to motivate his football players, is moved nearly to tears when he discusses what he terms “the sad state of youth fitness.”

“Kids are the very lifeblood of America,” Allen said. “If you don’t have youngsters who are fit, what kind of country will this be?”

An unhealthy one, says Dr. Wynder.

“It’s short-sighted for society to neglect proper health attitudes among children,” he said, “and we adults are the only ones to blame for this neglect.”