Abstract
Over the past few decades, studies have emphasized improving children’s health by increasing health-related fitness levels. Despite the known benefits of health-related fitness in youth, studies have also highlighted a lack of physical activity opportunities for children living in low-income households. The purpose of this study was to investigate the health-related fitness levels of students attending Title I (low-income) elementary schools. A total of 77 elementary students (50.6% female; Mage = 10.0, SD = 0.827) from two Title I elementary schools in the western United States completed the FitnessGram assessments of aerobic capacity, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility. Descriptive statistics were used to identify the number of students in the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) based upon the FitnessGram HFZ Performance Standards. Less than 17% of students achieved the HFZ for aerobic capacity and only 31.2% achieved the HFZ for upper body strength and endurance. Students performed better for abdominal strength and endurance and flexibility with 55.8% and 68.8% achieving the HFZ, respectively. The results of this study offer insights into the health-related fitness levels of a unique population, students attending Title I schools. School health professionals, including physical education teachers, need to be aware of existing disparities and make efforts to systematically intervene.
Highlights
Over the past few decades, many studies have emphasized improving children’s health through increasing health-related fitness levels [1,2,3]
Less than a third of students (31.2%) achieved the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) for upper body strength and endurance (33.3% of female students and 28.9% of male students) and just over half of students (55.8%) achieved the HFZ for abdominal strength and endurance
Bai and colleagues [46] found that HFZ achievement for aerobic capacity of FitnessGram assessment is positively associated with students’ minority rate and low socioeconomic status
Summary
Over the past few decades, many studies have emphasized improving children’s health through increasing health-related fitness levels [1,2,3]. Health-related fitness consists of five components: cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, body composition, and flexibility [4]. There are numerous benefits to optimal health-related fitness in elementary school-age children, including decreases in early-onset risk factors for cardiometabolic disease and a protective effect on obesity [5,6]. Physical fitness is associated with improvements in academic performance among children regardless of sociodemographic variables [7,8]. Children’s health-related physical fitness is an influential factor in preventing multiple diseases and enhancing cognitive health. World Health Organization 2020 Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour [9] and the latest edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for School-Aged
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