Is the Presidentʼs Challenge a Valid Test of Fitness in Children Ages 10-14?

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Childhood obesity is increasingly becoming a public health concern. The CDC has reported that approximately 25% of children in the United States are overweight and 11% are obese. Increasing childhood fitness is one way in which childhood obesity can be conquered and fitness testing is currently used to determine physical fitness levels in children. However, the validity of physical fitness testing in children has been immersed in controversy for over 30 years. PURPOSE: To determine if the President's Challenge is a valid predictor of physical fitness in children between 10 and 14 years of age. METHODS: Twenty three subjects, between the ages of 10 and 14, completed two fitness testing protocols. Protocol one was the President's Challenge and protocol two was developed by the researchers at the University ofEvansville (UE) entitled the UE Protocol. The President's Challenge consisted of a one-mile endurance run/walk, a shuttle run, curl-ups, pull-ups, and a sit and reach test. The UE Protocol consisted of measuring VO2 peak with a metabolic cart, using the Bruininks-Oseretsky protocol subtest 1, abdominal strength test using a Lafayette Manual Muscle Test System (MMT), pull-down test using a Base Line hydraulic push-pull dynamometer, Modified-Modified Schober Technique, and a 90/90 Test for hamstring flexibility. An intraclass correlation coefficient model (3, 1) was performed to analyze data. RESULTS: The ICC(3,1) between the President's Challenge shuttle run and the Bruininks-Oseretsky protocol subtest 1 was found to be 0.728. The ICC(3,1) between the Sit & Reach and the Modified-Modified Schober Technique was found to be 0.020. The ICC(3,1) between the Sit & Reach and both hamstring flexibility tests was found to be −0.107. The ICC(3,1) between the four tests was found to be −0.075. The ICC(3,1) between pull-ups and the pull-down test was found to be 0.117. The ICC(3,1) between curl-ups and the abdominal strength test was found to be 0.305. CONCLUSION: The components of the President's Challenge were not found to be a valid means of testing physical fitness in children ages 10–14.