More Kids Meet Fitness Standard, but That’s Still Only About 1 in 4

With groups of children jumping rope, doing push-ups and playing thumb wars behind him, state schools Supt. Jack O’Connell announced Wednesday that California’s public school students were getting fitter. But just barely.

Standing on the blacktop of a courtyard at Van Nuys Middle School, O’Connell said that, statewide, only about 27% of fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders reached minimum fitness levels in all of six parameters, as tested last spring. The figure was 25% in 2003.

In Orange County, students performed above the statewide averages but made almost no improvement over last year. This year, 30% of fifth-graders, about 36% of seventh-graders and about 34% of ninth-graders passed in all six fitness areas.

Results varied considerably in the county’s 27 school districts. In Santa Ana Unified, for example, 21% to 29% of students in the three grades passed, but in Capistrano Unified the range was 40% to 47%.

The six parameters tested were cardiovascular endurance, body fat percentage, overall flexibility, upper-body strength and endurance, abdominal strength and endurance, and trunk strength and flexibility.

O’Connell sounded words of caution over the statewide results.

“Clearly, we need to do more to eradicate the silent epidemic of childhood obesity in our public school system.”

O’Connell challenged districts to give students more healthful meals and better physical education programs. And he asked parents, many of whom received their children’s individual scores this fall, to make sure their children arrive at school rested and well-nourished.

He also introduced a friend and neighbor, fitness guru Jack La Lanne, who flexed his biceps, pounded on the lectern and reminded the gathered school officials that “the only way you hurt the body is not to use it -- junk in, junk out.”

“You can’t separate the mind and the body,” he added. “They go together as a team.”

California, the first state in the nation to require physical education in its public schools, requires students to exercise at least 20 minutes a day. Gym classes are not subject to the same size limits as academic subjects, so they often swell beyond 60 students. Those numbers, say many teachers, make it difficult to effectively teach.

O’Connell said that as school districts have grappled over the last few years to deal with budget cuts, gym classes have often been the first targets. “When we see physical education classes and sports being reduced,” he said, “that sends the wrong message to our kids.”