Physical Fitness and Activity Assessment in Youth C H A P T E R 10 Physical Fitness and Activity Assessment in Youth Physical Fitness and Activity Assessment in Youth

Objectives Discuss the status of youth fitness in the United States Differentiate athletic (motor) fitness and health-related fitness in youth Describe similarities and differences in youth fitness batteries (continued)

Objectives (continued) Administer fitness tests for youth in a reliable and valid manner Address issues in physical fitness assessment in special populations Assess physical activity in youth

Youth Fitness in the United States Some data suggest that US youth are unfit and that fitness levels may be decreasing Conflicting information indicates that US youth fitness levels are not necessarily poor and may not be decreasing No clear consensus on the levels of US youth fitness and the trend of those fitness levels

Passing Rates for the Fitnessgram 1-Mile (1.6 km) Run

Youth Risk Factor Behavior Survey Results

2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (Recommendations for Children and Adolescents) Children and adolescents should do 60 minutes or more of physical activity daily Most of the activity should be moderate to vigorous activity with at least 3 days of vigorous activities At least 3 days of activity should include muscle- and bone-strengthening activities Physical activity should be enjoyable, diverse, and age appropriate

Healthy People 2020 Physical Activity Objectives: Baseline (2010) and Targets (2020) for Improvement in Adolescents

Health-Related Fitness and Motor Fitness Athletic or motor fitness describes physical fitness related to sport performance Health-related fitness refers to the attainment or maintenance of physical capacities related to good or improved health

AAHPER Youth Fitness Test (Motor Fitness) Pull-ups for boys; flexed arm hang for girls 1-min sit-up test 600-yd (548.6 m) run Shuttle run Standing long jump 50-yd (45.7 m) dash (continued)

AAHPER Youth Fitness Test (continued) Only the first three items (previous slide) can be considered health-related fitness tests The other items relate to the ability to participate in sports and athletics AAHPERD Health-Related Physical Fitness Test was developed to better measure health-related fitness Includes components of cardiorespiratory endurance, body composition, and musculoskeletal function

Norm- vs. Criterion-Referenced Standards Normative data can be useful for these: Evaluating a program Identifying excellence in achievement Identifying the current status of participants either locally or nationally Most youth fitness evaluations have moved away from norm-referenced standards due to outdated normative values

Youth Fitness Test Batteries Assessment of physical fitness has shifted from motor fitness to more health-related emphasis Currently there are a number of test batteries; however, three elements are present in all the test batteries Health-related fitness items Criterion-referenced standards for each test Motivational awards

Presidential Youth Fitness Program President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition began the Presidential Youth Fitness Program (2013) Adoption of Cooper Institute’s fitness assessment, Fitnessgram Professional development Continued use of youth fitness recognition program Expertise of US CDC to track and evaluate the program

Fitnessgram The National Youth Fitness Test Battery Physical fitness battery that includes health-related criterion-referenced standards Identifies three fitness zones: Healthy Fitness Needs Improvement Needs Improvement – Health Risk Highlight the Fitnessgram physical fitness battery because it has been validated and is used by millions of children

Fitnessgram Test Items Program includes optional tests, computer software, and support The following slides demonstrate five items from the battery: PACER Skinfold measurements Curl-up Trunk lift 90o push-ups

Fitnessgram Health-Related Criterion-Referenced Standards Boys Age PACER (no. of laps) Skinfolds (percent fat) Curl-ups (number completed) Trunk lift (in.) Push-ups (number completed) Upper Lower 5 25 10 2 6 3 7 4 . 15 51 24 9 16 61 18 17+ Note. There is also a separate table for girls. This section of the table for boys is listed for demonstration purposes.

Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) Measures aerobic capacity Run as long as possible back and forth across a 20-m (21.9 yd) space at a specified pace (pace increases each minute) Recorded score is the total number of laps completed by each participant

Skinfold Measurements Measure %body fat Thickness of the skinfolds at the triceps and medial calf sites are measured and used to estimate %body fat Measure each skinfold three times and record the median value. Record the skinfold thickness to the nearest 0.5 mm

Curl-up Measure abdominal strength and endurance Performs as many curl-ups as possible to a maximum of 75 Record the number of curl-ups to a maximum of 75

Trunk Lift Measures trunk extensor strength and flexibility Student lifts the upper body from the ground using the muscles of the back and holds the position to allow an accurate measurement from chin to the ground Have student perform two trials; record the highest score to the nearest inch, up to a max of 12 in (30.5 cm)

90o Push-up Measures upper-body strength and endurance Student completes as many push-ups as possible to a cadence of 1 push-up every 3 seconds Record the number of push-ups performed

Enhancing Reliable and Valid Fitness Test Results with Children Attain adequate knowledge of test descriptions Give proper demonstrations and instructions Develop good student and teacher preparation through adequate practice trials Conduct reliability studies Step #3 is the most important of the 4 steps for minimizing measurement error.

Special Children Traditional fitness test batteries are biased against children with physical or mental disabilities Must consider participants’ limitations, mental capacities, interfering reflexes, and acquisition of prerequisite functions Brockport Physical Fitness Test Developed for youth with various disabilities age 10-17

Brockport Physical Fitness Test Items Mental retardation Blind with assistance Cerebral palsy Spinal cord injury Congenital anomalies/ amputation Reliability Validity PACER R O Acceptable Content Concurrent 1 mi (1.6 km) run or walk Target aerobic movement test Skinfolds . Back saver sit-and-reach test Target stretch test R/O Note. O = Option; R = Recommended

Institute of Medicine Recommendations for Youth Fitness Assessment The Committee on Fitness Measures and Health Outcomes in Youth was created in September 2012 Two main goals: To assess relations between youth fitness items and health outcomes Recommend the best fitness test items for (1) use in national youth fitness surveys and (2) fitness testing in schools (continued)

Institute of Medicine Recommendations for Youth Fitness Assessment (continued) Recommends the importance of measuring health-related physical fitness National surveys should include BMI and skinfold measures Fitness testing in schools should be limited to BMI Consider the addition of standing long jump to current youth fitness testing (lower-body strength)

Measuring Physical Activity in Youth Physical activity improves the overall health of children Physically inactive children tend to become inactive adults with higher risk for chronic diseases Physically active children tend to become active adults with lower risk for chronic diseases (continued)

Measuring Physical Activity in Youth (continued) Need reliable and valid measures of physical activity in children and youth Most reliably assessed through direct monitoring (e.g., pedometers) Lack of feasibility limits for applying such procedures in large-scale studies (continued)

Measuring Physical Activity in Youth (continued) Reliability and validity for self-report instruments was higher for older children than younger children Self-report scales may be suitable for high school age students but caution necessary when using with young children (Sallis et al. 1993) Conclusions from this study suggest that self-report scales may be suitable for high school aged students but should be cautious when using with young children.

Activitygram Assessment of physical activity developed by the Cooper Institute to accompany the Fitnessgram Assessment with two approaches

Fitnessgram Approach to Physical Activity Assessment Fitnessgram physical activity questionnaire based on three questions from the CDC YRBSS Aerobic activity question Muscle-strengthening activity question Bone-strengthening activity question Fitnessgram and Activitygram computer software provides individualized student feedback

Activitygram Approach to Physical Activity Assessment Previous Day Physical Activity Recall (Weston, Petosa, and Pate 1997) Child reports the frequency, intensity, time, and type of physical activity in 30-min blocks from 7a.m. to 11p.m.

Subjective Measurement of Physical Activity in Youth Self-report measures of physical activity behaviors in children can be misleading Self-report data suggest 46% of boys and 30% of girls meet the activity guidelines During direct observation percentages drop to 4% and 1% for boys and girls, respectively LeBlanc & Janssen, 2010

Objective Measurement of Physical Activity in Youth Direct observation can be expensive in terms of time and labor New technologies including portable computers have allowed reliable, valid, and feasible measurements using direct observation

Instruments Used for Observation of Physical Activity Behaviors

Summary Reliable and valid assessment of youth physical activity and fitness is a major objective of the assessment of human performance Effectively measuring and evaluating physical fitness and activity levels in youth will aid in developing a healthy and physically educated population