Trump Administration Restores Presidential Physical Fitness Test

The Trump administration launched the return of the Presidential Physical Fitness Test this week, ABC News reported. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. participated in fitness activities with a youth organization.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year reinstating the test and reestablishing the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. " The test originated in 1958 when the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation established the Youth Fitness Project.

The original version included pull-ups for boys, modified pull-ups for girls, sit-ups, a shuttle run, standing long jump, 50-yard dash, softball throw for distance and a 600-yard walk-run.

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the Presidential Physical Fitness Award Program for youth scoring above the 85th percentile on all seven items. The test was retired in 2012 under the Obama administration, when the President's Council launched the Presidential Youth Fitness Program as a school-based effort to promote health and regular physical activity.

Kinesiology experts told ABC News they support efforts to promote fitness but question whether a test alone will increase physical activity. Jackie Goodway, a professor in the department of kinesiology at Michigan State University, said anything that raises discussion on children moving is positive, though she believes the critique of the test outweighs its benefits.

Chad Killian, an assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of New Hampshire, noted that many students receive far less physical education time than the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recommend of 150 minutes per week in elementary school and 225 minutes per week in middle and high school.