New Report Shows 60 Percent of Poway Unified Students Meet Fitness Goals

About 60 percent of Poway Unified students received healthy scores across the board in a state fitness test—up from last year—compared to only 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 9 out of 10 PUSD 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.

Six out of 10 PUSD students received HFZ scores in all six areas, nearly twice the percentage of students statewide (34 percent) and 20 percent more than all San Diego County students (39 percent).

All PUSD grades have increased the percentage of students in the HFZ since last year, however the class of 2013 (last year's ninth-graders) showed a slight decrease in HFZ scores since its students were last tested in seventh grade.

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.

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