County Students Fall Far Short in Physical Fitness

Eight out of 10 elementary school children and seven out of 10 secondary school students throughout San Diego County and the state fail to meet minimum physical fitness standards to be considered fit, according to results released Tuesday of the first-ever statewide fitness tests.

The abysmal performances, although not a total surprise to educators, given similar results from recent nationwide fitness testing, were nevertheless decried at both state and local levels Tuesday.

“California students are not physically fit,” state Schools Supt. Bill Honig said in releasing data from the newest addition to the California Assessment Program, which annually evaluates the state’s students in academic areas. The results “support the need for greater emphasis on guiding students in making sound decisions about their health, fitness and life styles.”

The health education specialists for the San Diego Unified School District, in presenting local data to the school board Tuesday, suggested development of a physical education master plan to improve performances among the 119,000 students in the nation’s eighth-largest urban system.

The district has only one curriculum specialist in physical and health education to work with teachers in its 180 schools, a situation that educators concede is pathetic. Half a dozen of the district’s elementary schools use their own discretionary funds to pay for extra physical fitness education, and the district is considering hiring 70 elementary specialist teachers in fine arts and physical education to take over classes once a week.

In the Encinitas and Vista school districts, students are participating this year in pilot programs by researchers at San Diego State University and UC San Diego to promote greater physical activity and better nutrition.

And an El Cajon elementary school teacher is experimenting with an aerobics and running program that combines fitness with academics to form long-lasting exercise and academic goals.

The new California Assessment Program test was given last spring to 800,000 students statewide in the fifth, seventh and ninth grades, including 66,148 in San Diego County. It consisted of four tasks: a “sit and reach” flexibility test, bent-knee sit-ups, pull-ups and a 1-mile run/walk. There was also an optional body-fat assessment, which only only a few districts conducted.

At the county level, 19% of fifth-graders, 27% of seventh-graders and 32% of ninth-graders passed the four required tests. Because the standards represent minimum levels, students must meet those for all four exercises (excluding the optional skin measurement) to be considered fit under the state program.

At the state level, 16% of fifth-graders, 20% of seventh-graders and 26% of ninth-graders passed the four tests. In San Diego city schools, 17% of the fifth-graders, 25% of the seventh-graders and 22% in the ninth grade met state minimums.

Breakdowns by cultural diversity show a generally consistent pattern for the county and the state, with Asian students scoring the highest, followed by whites and blacks, with Latino students meeting the fewest standards. In the seventh grade, for example, 36% of Asian students met four standards countywide, compared with 29% of whites, 26% of blacks and 23% of Latinos.

Although that data at city, county and state levels suggests cultural patterns may exist concerning exercise, a preliminary data check by San Diego city schools evaluators found no pattern correlating socioeconomic level and fitness performance.

“Schools for the first time have the data they need to evaluate their physical education and health programs,” said Honig, who has been pushing a “Healthy Kids, Healthy California” campaign to improve fitness and nutrition instruction statewide. The state recommends a minimum of 20 minutes of aerobic activity at least three times weekly, to include running, jumping, throwing, kicking, walking and balancing, as well as ways of showing how exercise habits can be enjoyable.

But Alan Richmond, San Diego city schools coordinator for physical and health education, said that, although many teachers understand the connection between good health and increased learning, most have not yet pushed for stronger programs.

“Many elementary school students do not receive quality daily instruction in physical education,” he said in a report to the school board. “The reality . . . is that this may be due to untrained elementary school teachers who have the responsibility of teaching physical education. Those schools which have trained elementary physical education specialists do an outstanding job.”

Richmond added, “At the secondary school level, removing the four-year physical education requirement resulted in most students electing not to take physical education in the 11th and 12th grades.”

In the Encinitas elementary district, San Diego State University and UCSD researchers are experimenting with a federally funded project to promote student interest in long-term active recreation. Children are learning physical skills in a way that maximizes activity to avoid students’ standing around or feeling shy about participating because of apprehension over ability.

“You won’t see kids standing around waiting for their turn to dribble in soccer, for example,” Thom McKenzie, San Diego State physical education professor, said. “You’ll see all or most of the children doing dribbling simultaneously . . . it’s like reading, you don’t stand in line for a textbook one at a time.”

McKenzie said that, by increasing children’s activity in sports and recreation, their fitness will also benefit even though the program does not teach fitness directly, such as sit-ups or running, because such sustained mandatory fitness exercise turns many students off. The project, which is funded by the Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, also will help train regular teachers to carry the program forward.

Another project in Vista is combining physical activity with nutritional counseling and changes in menu planning by the district’s food services division, McKenzie said.

At Meridian Elementary in El Cajon, fifth-grade teacher Pete Saccone heads up a magnet program that involves students at all grade levels running a mile or more daily. Saccone has the students use their running mileage as part of math study, figuring out percentages, solving problems and learning how to predict probabilities. They also practice writing by sending letters to race promoters asking about entries for 10-kilometer runs, for example.

“We also work on self-esteem by setting goals both for classroom as well as physical improvements,” Saccone said.

In the new tests themselves, a majority of students statewide and countywide were able to perform the sit-and-reach, which measures lower back and hamstring flexibility. The standard for all students at all grades is to reach forward 25 centimeters toward their feet in a sitting position with legs forward.

The fewest number of students statewide and countywide passed the pull-up standards, which are one pull-up for girls at all grades, one pull-up for fifth-grade boys, two for seventh-grade boys, and five for ninth-grade boys.

The sit-up standard for girls ranges from 28 in one minute at grade five to 35 by grade nine, while boys must complete 30 in one minute at grade five, increasing to 42 by grade nine.

Girls in the fifth and seventh grades are required to complete the 1-mile walk-run within 11 minutes, and ninth-graders must meet a 10 1/2-minute standard. Boys in the fifth grade have a 10-minute standard, which drops to nine minutes for the seventh grade and 7 1/2 minutes for the ninth grade.

Rancho Santa Fe elementary students topped fifth-grade performance countywide, with 82% meeting four or more standards. Students in the Coronado district followed with 66%. Fifth-graders in San Marcos, at 58% and in Carlsbad at 35% also ranked high.

By contrast, eight San Diego city schools had no students meeting four goals. Its highest-scoring schools were in the La Jolla area, with Bird Rock Elementary--which has its own special activity program--scoring 53%. The lowest county district score was in San Ysidro, where only 3% of its students met the four standards.

Results of the latest tests indicate that California’s schoolchildren have much in common with their couch-potato counterparts in the rest of the nation. Recent studies by the Amateur Athletic Union and the President’s Council on Physical Fitness showed that fitness among American youngsters is actually on the decline.

COMPARISON OF FITNESS TEST RESULTS NUMBER OF FITNESS STANDARDS ACHIEVED

4 or more 3 2 1 0 GRADE 5 DISTRICT 17 21 25 24 13 STATE 15 21 26 25 12 COUNTY 19 22 25 23 11 GRADE 7 DISTRICT 25 24 24 18 9 STATE 20 26 25 21 9 COUNTY 27 26 23 16 7 GRADE 9 DISTRICT 22 27 25 19 8 STATE 26 26 24 18 6 COUNTY 32 26 22 15 5

ACHIEVEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL FITNESS STANDARDS

SIT & SIT-UP PULL-UP SKINFOLDS 1-MILE REACH RUN/WALK GRADE 5 DISTRICT 65 46 42 53 45 STATE 65 44 40 58 49 COUNTY 68 51 41 56 51 GRADE 7 DISTRICT 73 52 34 60 54 STATE 76 59 35 59 55 COUNTY 77 63 35 62 59 GRADE 9 DISTRICT 83 53 37 56 60 STATE 84 61 39 63 56 COUNTY 83 64 48 63 62

Percent of students achieving standards for San Diego Unified School District and state. Source: San Diego Unified School District.

HOW FIT IS EACH DISTRICT?

NUMBER OF CATEGORIES PASSED

DISTRICT 4 or more 3 2 1 zero San Diego County Grade 5 19 22 25 23 11 Grade 7 27 26 23 16 7 Grade 9 32 26 22 15 5 Alpine Union Grade 5 12 26 30 21 11 Grade 7 6 30 27 28 9 Bonsall Union Grade 5 23 24 24 17 10 Grade 7 26 21 22 22 9 Borrego Springs Grade 5 56 22 4 19 0 Grade 7 16 32 26 16 11 Grade 9 21 39 14 25 0 Cajon Valley Grade 5 23 24 24 21 0 Grade 7 17 26 27 21 9 Cardiff Elementary Grade 5 28 27 25 12 8 Carlsbad Unified Grade 5 35 25 22 15 3 Grade 7 35 26 20 15 5 Grade 9 58 26 10 5 1 Chula Vista City Grade 5 15 21 27 27 10 Coronado Unified Grade 5 66 16 12 5 1 Grade 7 33 39 20 6 3 Grade 9 19 35 23 21 2 Dehesa Elementary Grade 5 0 18 35 35 12 Del Mar Union Grade 5 28 44 20 7 2 Encinitas Union Grade 5 26 30 24 14 6 Escondido Union Grade 5 21 24 25 21 9 Grade 7 21 21 26 22 10 Fallbrook Union Grade 5 18 20 25 26 11 Grade 7 39 25 20 13 3 Grossmont Union Grade 9 31 28 22 15 5 Jamul-Dulzura Union Grade 5 17 25 21 24 12 Grade 7 14 46 21 15 5 Julian Union Grade 5 12 24 33 24 7 Grade 7 17 32 27 15 18 La Mesa-Spring Valley Grade 5 18 21 28 20 13 Grade 7 13 31 31 18 7 Lakeside Union Grade 5 13 20 29 26 12 Grade 7 38 23 16 17 6 Lemon Grove Grade 5 17 19 25 28 12 Grade 7 27 36 23 11 3 Mountain Empire Grade 5 21 24 29 21 6 Grade 7 57 17 16 7 4 Grade 9 56 27 13 5 0 National Elementary Grade 5 13 21 32 24 10 Oceanside City Grade 5 12 23 26 29 11 Grade 7 17 24 29 20 10 Grade 9 20 27 27 20 7 Pauma Elementary Grade 5 17 28 33 22 0 Grade 7 19 28 19 25 8 Poway Grade 5 30 26 22 16 6 Grade 7 31 37 21 8 3 Grade 9 44 27 18 8 3 Ramona City Grade 5 15 16 24 25 19 Grade 7 42 21 18 13 6 Grade 9 19 20 29 25 7 Rancho Santa Fe Grade 5 82 13 2 3 0 Grade 7 79 13 8 0 0 San Diego City Grade 5 17 21 25 24 13 Grade 7 25 24 24 18 9 Grade 9 22 27 25 19 8 San Dieguito Union Grade 7 49 27 14 7 3 Grade 9 41 29 19 8 1 San Marcos Unified Grade 5 33 29 20 15 4 San Pasqual Unified Grade 5 21 38 29 13 0 Grade 7 41 30 15 11 4 San Ysidro Elementary Grade 5 3 12 40 30 15 Grade 7 NA NA NA NA NA Santee Elementary Grade 5 13 19 25 26 17 Grade 7 24 27 21 19 8 Solana Beach Elementary Grade 5 43 20 20 11 7 South Bay Union Grade 5 8 17 25 31 19 Spencer Valley Grade 5 13 13 50 25 0 Sweetwater Union High Grade 7 32 24 21 17 6 Grade 9 31 24 22 17 6 Vallecitos Elementary Grade 5 0 11 28 39 22 Grade 7 0 0 38 15 46 Valley Center Union Grade 5 24 29 22 17 9 Grade 7 49 29 13 5 3 Vista Unified Grade 5 21 24 23 21 12 Grade 7 16 28 26 21 9 Grade 9 42 24 17 13 4 Warner Union Elementary Grade 5 40 28 12 12 8 Grade 7 15 15 35 23 12