Youth Fitness Initiative Project Summary
The Youth Fitness Initiative mission is to promote lifelong healthy choices.
We feel we can make the biggest positive, long-term impact on the obesity epidemic by supporting physical education in the schools through these economically challenging times. If we can help provide the foundation of healthy practices, our students will grow into physically active adults who understand the importance of regular physical activity and healthy eating.
According to a Health Affairs study tracking trends in childhood obesity and cost, between 2001 and 2005, hospital costs for obese children increased from $125.9 million to $237.6 million (Endocrine Today, July 9, 2009).
“The underlying philosophy is that if a physical education class could be used to instruct kids how to monitor their own health and fitness, then the lessons they learn could serve them for life.” - Dr. John J. Ratey, Harvard Medical School, author of Spark, the Revolutionary Science of Exercise and the Brain.
Our first pilot program provides Fitnessgram/Activitygram software to each of one elementary school, one middle school and one high school in the Broward County Public School system. Fitnessgram/Activitygram is a health-related fitness and activity assessment and web-based computerized reporting system. The Cooper Institute, started by Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., known as the “father of aerobics,” developed this program in 1982 to respond to the need for comprehensive assessment in physical education programs.
Health-related physical fitness tests assess aerobic capacity, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility and body composition. The assessments provide data for curriculum planning and monitoring progress on an individual as well as program basis. Reports are provided to students with suggestions for improvements as necessary.
“The impact exercise has on the brain is unparalleled,” said Dr. Kenneth Cooper, “Increased exercise improves cardiovascular health, and that helps the brain function more efficiently and enhances it ability to learn.”
The system is currently successfully utilized by school districts including Illinois, California, Texas and Miami-Dade. In 2007-2008, Texas assessed close to 2.4 million students and determined that 70% of students in grades 4 through 12 had body composition in the “Healthy Fitness Zone” meaning that 30% were overweight or obese. Only 22% of graduating seniors had aerobic capacity meeting the Zone’s criterion-referenced standards based on levels of fitness needed for good health. Comparisons between children is minimized; the emphasis is on personal fitness for health rather than performance.
