President Donald Trump has signed an executive order reestablishing the Presidential Fitness Test (PFT). This test used to be a rite of passage for students who strove to complete the national fitness standards and earn the Presidential Fitness Award.
There were five main components to the PFT program: the mile run, pull-ups/push-ups, the sit and reach, the shuttle run, and sit-ups. When I was coming up in the ranks, there was a chin-up hang and a rope-climbing benchmark to complete as well.
The PFT was discarded in 2012, but former President Barack Obama replaced it with the FitnessGram, which emphasized individual fitness goals over national standards. This type of program was thought to be more encouraging; if the end goal was for children to be motivated to take care of themselves physically, perhaps giving them a project that shows progress would be more helpful. Everyone gets a trophy, right?
Side note: It’s interesting that the same administration that rolled out child fitness reform also decided it would dictate school lunches. While the FitnessGram attempted to encourage personal responsibility, the school lunch reforms assumed neither parents nor children had any responsibilities.
As for President Trump’s reinstatement of the Presidential Fitness Test, The New York Times in particular was pooh-poohing its return. The paper carefully located interviewees who lamented the public shaming they endured when they were unable to complete a pull-up or run a mile.
Conversely, other papers are hopeful, as the Trump administration is working with professionals who can provide good feedback. “Trump appointed professional athletes to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, which will be guiding and working on standards for the revived test,” according to The Hill. “Experts are urging the council to ensure the goals of the test are updated as well.”
Whether you loved these fitness tests or dreaded them, they were all attempts to keep American children healthy. Now, we can use them to address the core issue for this generation of American children — namely, childhood obesity. Today, children ages 6-17 are undergoing some form of fitness test, yet their obesity rates remain unchanged. Furthermore, children who are already struggling with obesity are getting even heavier.
Some experts believe the chief contributing factor is a more sedentary lifestyle, and children spending their spare time on screens rather than playing outside. Others are quick to blame poverty levels or racism because certain races have higher rates of obesity. Still more believe that obesity is a problem that can only be resolved with medical intervention. And never mind the “body positivity” crowd.
Kids deserve better than being told they are helpless agents of their own destruction. At least with the Presidential Fitness Test, children are being held to some sort of standard and encouraged to strive for something better.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will oversee the PFT’s reinstatement. “We need to re-instill that spirit of competition and that commitment to nutrition and physical fitness,” said Kennedy, who has fond memories of completing the Presidential Fitness Test. RFK is the leader of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement and is earnestly taking steps to help our children. He has banned toxic food dyes from our food, and now he wants to help parents encourage their children to practice active lifestyles.
These are all encouraging ideals to pursue. We want our kids to be active, healthy, and strong. It not only helps them physically but also intellectually, emotionally, and regimentally. At the end of the day, the health of our children is the responsibility of their parents. The federal government backing them up through programs like the Presidential Fitness Test is great, but ultimately, it’s parents who form the habits, diets, and lifestyles of the next generation.
