County Youth Out of Shape, Report Shows : Health: Though in better physical condition than students elsewhere in California, the vast majority of fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders fail to meet state fitness standards.

Orange County students in grades five, seven and nine are in slightly better physical condition than their counterparts in the rest of the state, but most students here and elsewhere remain woefully out of shape, according to a state report released today.

Just 19% of the county’s fifth-graders were deemed to be in shape based on four physical exercises students performed as part of the California Assessment Program’s 1989-90 Physical and Health-Related Fitness Test. Although the county’s fifth-graders bested the state average of 17%, the results still mean that four-fifths of the students failed to meet satisfactory achievement levels in sit-ups, pullups, a “sit-and-reach” exercise and a 1-mile run/walk. Some students also took an optional fifth test that measured body composition.

Results for grades seven and nine were better but again suggested that kids lean more toward being couch potatoes than athletes. Twenty-six percent of Orange County seventh-graders passed the four exercise tests necessary to meet the overall fitness standard, surpassing the state score of 21% for seventh-graders, and 29% of the county’s ninth-graders also passed the four-part test. The statewide score for ninth-graders was 26%.

Scores in both Orange County and the state were up over 1989--the first year the test was administered--and both state and local officials said the increase was even more significant because more students took the test. But they remained displeased with the overall results.

“It’s fast foods and too much TV,” said Pat Valladao, a consultant in the health, nutrition and physical education division of the state Department of Education, explaining the reasons behind the consistently poor results.

Passing fitness scores in Orange County ranged from 10% of the fifth-graders in the Anaheim City School District to 57% of the fifth-graders in the Laguna Beach Unified School District. There was also a wide range of results within individual districts. For example, while 66% of the seventh-graders at Ensign Intermediate School in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District were found to be physically fit, just 29% of the seventh-graders at Corona del Mar High School--in the same district--made the fitness grade.

State Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig said schools that designate physical education classes as free-play periods consistently fare worse than schools that use the time to teach students the benefits of exercise and good nutrition.

“What we found is that where schools have got organized (physical education) programs, scores obviously go way up,” Honig said. “(At some schools, students) just go in and play kickball or whatever it is. This is a course of study, just the same as math or science or literature. It should be a part of the curriculum.”

Pati Abshere, the physical education coordinator at Tustin Memorial Elementary School, said that none of the fifth-graders at the school were found physically fit in 1989 but that 31% passed four parts of the test this year. She attributed the rise to a new physical education program started by the school as part of an overall improvement program.

“We started a team approach to our physical education program a couple of years ago, and last year we started a thrust toward a skill-based program,” Abshere said. “We take all of the upper-grade students and place them in P.E. groups, and we rotate the groups every four weeks.”

Valladao said that such skill-based programs aid in the success of physical education plans because they concentrate on all students.

“We’ve had physical education programs really centered too much around games and sports,” he said. “In so doing, who did we take care of? We took good care of that youngster who had a lot of natural ability, who would have been an athlete anyway. The average youngsters--their physical fitness needs were never addressed.”

While many educators praised ongoing efforts in schools to get students into better physical shape, they also noted that none of the programs will be successful if students don’t maintain good health habits outside of school.

“It’s a need to look at health and nutrition in general, and making positive self-choices and working with parent education programs as well,” said Linda Purrington, principal of Las Palmas Elementary School in San Clemente, where 29% of the fifth-graders were judged physically fit this year after none passed the test in 1989. “Even if we drill the kids, they still have to eat the right foods, get enough sleep and do all the other things that make them perform well.”