The Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health concluded:

• People of all ages benefit from regular physical activity.
• Significant health benefits can be obtained from a moderate amount of physical activity
• Additional health benefits are gained through greater amounts of intensities of physical activity.
• Physical activity reduces the risk of premature mortality.
• Less than 40% of U.S. adults are regularly active.
• Nearly half of U.S. youths age 12 to 21 are not vigorously active on a regular basis.
• Daily enrollment in physical education classes has declined among high school students from 42% in 1991 to 25% in 1995.
• Research on understanding and promoting physical activity is in its early stages.

Two types of physical fitness are most often recognized:  health-related physical fitness and skill-related fitness.

Health-related fitness helps to ensure that a person will be able to function effectively in everyday tasks:

• Cardiovascular fitness- development of the heart, blood vessels, and respiratory system to deliver oxygen efficiently.
• Body Composition-  the proportion of body fat to lean body mass.
• Flexibility- range of movement through which a joint or sequence of joints can move.
• Muscular strength and Endurance- Strength is the ability of the muscles to exert force against resistance.  Endurance is the ability to exert force over an extended period of time.

Skill-Related Physical Components are necessary for athletic accomplishment:

• Agility-  ability of the body to change position rapidly and accurately while moving in space.
• Balance-  body's ability to maintain a state of equilibrium while remaining stationary or moving.
• Coordination- ability of the body to perform smoothly and successfully more than one motor task at the same time.
• Power-  ability to transfer energy explosively into force.
• Speed- ability of the body to perform movement in a short period of time.

Elementary need to understand the difference between skill-related fitness and health-related fitness but should not "train".

Guidelines for prescribing physical activity for children:

• Elementary school children should accumulate at least 30 to 60 minutes of age appropriate physical activity on all or most days.
• An accumulation of more that 60 minutes and up to several hours per day of appropriate activities is encouraged for schoolage children.
• Each day, youngsters should be involved in 10 to 15 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity.

Youngsters need to participate in a wide variety of activities.

The Physical Activity Pyramid (Page 231) is a model that is used to help teachers and students develop a balanced fitness approach.

• Lifestyle Activities are at the base of the pyramid because an accumulation of daily minutes of involvement in these activities has been shown to have positive health benefits.
• Active Aerobics are activities that are done for relatively long periods of time without stopping.
• Active sports and Recreational Activities are sports activities such as tennis, soccer, and basketball.
• Flexibility Exercises are activities designed to improve the range of joint motion.
• Strength and Muscular Endurance Exercises are activities designed and performed specifically to increase strength and muscular endurance.

• National test data does not show a decline in fitness
• Fitness tests have changed

• mile run, 12 minute run, 600 yard run

• Definitions of fitness have changed
• Test batteries fail most children (They must pass ALL items.)

National fitness test data

• AAHPERD and/or Presidents Council was administered in 1958, 1965, 1975, 1985

• Only test items used over the four decades - flexed arm hang and pull-ups
• No decreases in performance

• 10 year old girls - 50% passed in 1958 and 53% passed in 1985
• 10 year old boys - 55% passed in 1958 and 73% passed in 1985

Fitness Testing

The overriding consideration when determining to test is ensuring that the testing experience is positive and educational.

• Use a health-related physical fitness test to provide information about health.
• Fitnessgram is a battery of test and software for reporting health-related fitness results.
• Fitnessgram items:
  • Aerobic Capacity
  • Body Composition
  • Abdominal Strength
  • Upper Body Strength
  • Trunk Extensor Strength and Flexibility
  • Flexibility
• Three main purposes of fitness teat:
  • to offer personalized, informal self-testing
  • to measure personal best fitness performance
  • to evaluate institutional accomplishment of fitness goals.
• Any award system should incorporate the following points:
  • Base awards on achievement of goals that are challenging, yet attainable.
  • If fitness goals do not seem attainable to youngsters, "learned helplessness" sets in.
  • If an award system is used to motivate children's activity, the system should be phased out.
  • An alternative and long-term approach to awards is to recognize students for regular participation in activity.

The following activities can help to make activity a positive learning experience:

• Personalize fitness activities.
• Expose youngsters to a variety of fitness activities.
• Give students feedback about their performance.
• Teach physical skills and fitness.
• Be a role model.
• Care about the attitudes of children
• Start easy and progress slowly
• Use low-intensity activity
• Encourage lifetime activity

If the following activities conditions are met exercise may become positively addicting and part of one's life:

1. The activity must be noncompetitive.
2. It must not require a great deal of mental effort.
3. The activity can be done alone, without a partner or teammates.
4. Students must believe in the value of exercise.
5. Participants must believe that the activity will become easier if they persist.
6. The activity should be accomplished in such a manner that the participant is not self-critical.

The purpose of fitness instruction at the elementary level is to get youngsters in the habit of performing daily physical activity.

Suggestions for enriching and promoting the fitness and activity program:

1. Provide basic explanations of rudimentary anatomy and kinesiology.
2. Provide an understanding of how fitness id developed.
3. Develop cognition of the importance of fitness for wellness.
4. Place bulletin boards in the teaching area to explain components of the physical education program to parents and students.
5. Exploit the use of audiovisual aids.
6. Help children understand the values of physical fitness and the physiology of its development and maintenance.
7. Emphasize self-testing programs that teach children to evaluate their personal fitness levels.
8. Cooperation at home is essential.
9. Assign physical activity as homework for youngsters.
10. Physical education fitness exhibitions and school demonstrations for parents.

There are many methods for developing fitness; none of these are best for all children!

Fitness routines are exclusively dedicated to the presentation of a variety of fitness activities.

Fitness activity routines for children in each of the developmental levels are available on pages 245 - 272

Physical performance is affected by a combination of many factors

• Nutrition and environment
• Physical activity
• Maturation
• Heredity

Maturation - age differences of 3 months impact performance scores

Genetic predisposition controls up to 30% of performance (Bouchard, 1993)

• Muscle fiber differences
• Aerobic capacity
• Stride length

Trainability controls up to 40% of physical performance

• Rate of improvement during training
• Rate of response to training

Up to 70% of performance is dependent on heredity

When children fail fitness tests, they are labeled as unfit

• Fitness is controlled genetically; activity is available for all
• Fitness is comparative; activity is individual and personal
• Fitness is short term; activity is long term
• Activity needs to be valued as much as intense exercise
• Activity can be done by families and friends

Every American adult should accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity over the course of most days of the week. Incorporating more activity into the daily routine is an effective way to improve health. Activities that can contribute to the 30-minute total include walking up stairs (instead of taking the elevator), gardening, raking leaves, dancing, and walking part or all of the way to or from work. The recommended 30 minutes of physical activity may also come from planned exercise or recreation such as jogging, playing tennis, swimming, and cycling. One specific way to meet the standard is to walk two miles briskly.

The American College of Sports Medicine and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in cooperation with the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. July, 1993

• Personalize fitness activities
  • Time as workload variable
  • Increased success

• Exposure to a variety of activities
  • Increases interest
  • Decreases boredom
• Give feedback

• Encourage continued participation
• Reinforce all children

• Teach physical skills and fitness

• Skills are used for participation
• Skill increases competency

• Be a role model

• Appearance, attitude, and actions
• Positive influence

• Care about attitudes

• Training does not equate to lifetime fitness
• Listen carefully to students
• Turn students on to activity and fitness

• Start easy and progress slowly

• Fitness is a journey, not a destination
• Self-directed workloads
• Ensure success

• Use low-intensity activity

• Developmentally appropriate
• High-volume-low-intensity