Students outpace averages in fitness

Jeff Benson

Local students have a collective leg up on their statewide peers.

The district has a greater percentage of physically fit students

than the average California school district, according to the results

of the annual 2003-04 California Physical Fitness Test.

Nearly 30% of Newport-Mesa’s 4,487 fifth-, seventh- and

ninth-grade students and 27% of all California students in the same

grades met the test’s six physical fitness standards, which include

aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength,

trunk-extension strength, upper-body strength and flexibility.

Only fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders were tested. The results

of the test, administered by the California Department of Education,

were released last week.

Students were tested on their abilities to execute exercises

including crunches, trunk-lifts, push-ups, pull-ups, modified

pull-ups, flexed-arm hangs and sit-and-reach and shoulder stretches.

They also received scores for Body Mass Index and skin-fold

measurement.

Instructors were given their own flexibility in choosing which

tests to give for each standard, said Joe Fuschetti, Ensign

Intermediate School physical education teacher.

The standards were reported as a percentage of students in six

“healthy fitness zones,” indexes that show how many children are

meeting state fitness goals. Newport-Mesa’s students had little

problem jumping a hurdle that affected many of California’s students

-- aerobic capacity, or cardiovascular endurance. More than 70% of

them passed the endurance run, one-mile run and walk test, which are

mandated by the state. California’s students as a whole struggled

with that test, as fewer than 55% passed.

“Schools strive for cardio,” Fuschetti said. “If you have that

ingrained in your programs across the board, you’ll see better

results. We have a mile run every Friday, and if you miss that, you

have two weeks to make that up. We really encourage cardiovascular

fitness.”

In addition, nearly 95% of the district’s ninth-graders passed the

trunk-extension strength test, compared with 83% statewide.

Peggy Anatol, the district’s director of assessment, said this

year the district began mailing home fitness reports on each child,

which allow parents to gauge how well their children are doing.

Additionally, the district put a greater emphasis on nutrition by

making it a part of the curriculum, she said.

“We have really made an effort in the last few years to increase

physical fitness levels,” Anatol said. “P.E. teachers throughout the

district have met together as a group and planned their curriculum

using national fitness standards.”

In a news release, state schools chief Jack O’Connell said he was

disappointed with the state’s results.

The results showed that an “unacceptable percentage” of the

state’s public school students were not physically fit in the areas

tested.

Fuschetti, a member of the district’s nutrition committee, said

that didn’t surprise him.

“Nationwide, I think obesity is really on the upswing,” Fuschetti

said. “Portion sizes are bigger. We didn’t have all those things in

the old days that now keep kids indoors versus outdoors and active.

Nationally, I think those things used to be addressed.”

* JEFF BENSON covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at [email protected].