NYC Public School Fitness Program

My eldest daughter received her NYC Fitness Gram the other day. The Fitness Gram details her BMI, muscle strength, endurance, flexibility and aerobic fitness levels. It is sanctioned by the NYC Dept. of Education.

I realize that these tests are designed and created to asses the general health and fitness of each child with the best of intentions. I also realize that these sorts of tests are not supposed to be highly accurate depictions of a child's actual fitness level (whatever that really means Truth be told they are pretty useless.

Here is a scan of my daughters test.

For example, all kids are asked to do push ups the same way. doesn't matter if you are really top heavy or not. A heavy kid might be a lot stronger than an thin kid but do less total push-ups (each push up for the heavy kid would be akin to placing 5 NYC phone books on the thin kids back). So the heavy kid gets a worse score even though he is a lot stronger than the thin kid.

When it came to the flexibility test my daughter scored really well. Of course, it helps to have long arms and a long torso in this sit and reach test. If your legs are long and your arms and torso are short you'll score poorly even though the child's level of flexibility is perfectly healthy - for them.

The really interesting this about this Fitness Gram are the sidebar notations.

For example, the sit and reach test which, allegedly, tests the flexibility of the child has a sidebar that reads:

"Maintain your fitness by stretching slowly 3 or 4 days each week..."

This is an interesting statement because my daughter never ever stretches. So her almost off the charts flexibility was not achieved by an iota of stretching. It is highly unlikely that she'll need to stretch then to maintain it.

If you look at the curl ups which are really crunches, my daughter was off the charts. 22 was considered very high and she did 50. On the sidebar it says:

"Your abdominal and trunk strength are both in the Healthy Fitness Zone. To maintain your fitness abdominal and trunk strength (what is the difference really?) should be done 3 to 5 days each week."

Where is the science to support this silly idea? And besides, how did she wind up doing nearly double the very high amount when she never does trunk curls?

At the top right hand side of the paper it says:

"To be healthy and fit, it is important to do some physical activity almost everyday..."

This is not a bad idea but I have yet to see a kid who does not do some form of physical activity everyday. I know that these kids do exist, but they are rare and more than likely need emotional help rather than forcing them to go outside and play.

"Aerobic exercise is good for your heart and body composition..."

There is little if any scientific evidence to support this common idea. Body composition is not affected when kids are placed into aerobic exercise programs unless diet is accounted for.

As for the heart, aerobic exercise does next to nothing especially in children. Aerobic exercise increases the amount of mitochondria (cellular powerhouses) within the muscle (as does weight lifting). The heart merely goes along for the ride.

"Strength and flexibility exercises are good for your muscles and joints."

While it is true that strength exercises are good for your muscles and joints, flexibility exercises are not. In other words, there is little if any scientific evidence to support the idea that stretching exercises are beneficial especially for children.

If we are going to create tests to help keep our children healthy and strong it would be helpful if we stuck to science rather than fitness lore. We owe our children at least this much don't you think?

Comments

[fred hahn]

Well, fitness testing is not the answer that's for sure. The timeliest test is none at all.

The real test for fitness for kids is general health and markers for inflammation as well as signs of obesity and metabolic syndrome.

If the child is lean, has no abnormal blood markers for inflammation, then all is basically well. Why test their fitness?

The BIG issue is food. FE: Whole grains are NOT healthful. Neither is low fat milk or low fat products. Carbohydrates contribute to adiposity, overeating, type II diabetes and inflammation.

There is no need to test children for fitness. Kids that are healthy are fit by default. If a kid like sports, fine. If not, fine too. ALL kids who eat healthfully will sleep well and will have excess energy to play and play they will. They always have until recently as the bulk of our food has become laden with fructose which is stored as fat making the child hungry and hour after she eats.

Disordered eating leads to eating disorders.

Feed a child fat and meats, vegetables and some fruit only and everything else will fall into place naturally.

[Bob Jennings]

Dear Fred,

After reading your artical on the fitness gram test administerd by the NYC schools it was interesting to hear someone elses point of view. Currently we have been administering the test in our school system for eight years. Many of the concerns you point out have also been debated here through the years. My biggest concerns as an educator are accuracy of the results along with consistency with how the test is given from school to school.
At best I see it as an instrument to help student understand personal resposibility for their own health and fitness.
In the 2010-11 school year Georgia will begin requiring a fitness assesment on all students 1st thru 12th grade. Do you have recommendations for a better test instrument that can be given in a timely and effective manner?

[Fred Hahn]

Thanks for the kind words!

[Kathy from Maine]

Never mind! I ended up going back through your entire archive and found it! Geez, there's some great stuff back there! I'll have to spend some time this weekend pouring through all of it.

[Kathy from Maine]

I have an off-topic request. A while back you did a two-part blog about a stress test you took. I have a friend who believes weight-training alone won't help you with "aerobic fitness" (whatever he means by that). I told him about that blog, and he doesn't believe me.

Could you provide the link? I tried the search function, but it took me to other sites.

Thanks for such a great blog! I've just subscribed.

[Fred Hahn]

Great to hear Lynn! Yes I saw that story. The research on this was done in 2007 I think.

[Lynn]

Fred - Science vs fitness lore. Well, put, Fred. However, sadly, lore is more lucrative. Worse still, it influences too many well-meaning people.

Have tried your recommendation (for about six weeks) to consume more protein before each workout. (Usually, a can of sardines for about 28 grams of protein.) Fantastic! Stronger; leaner.

Have you seen this article?
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/can-you-get-fit-in-six-minutes-a-week/?scp=1&sq=Six%20minutes%20a%20week%20&st=cse

[Joe Matasic]

Just in case you want to edit it, I believe your daughter's name is the sidebar. First word.