Physical Fitness Scores for County Schools Released

New California Physical Fitness Test scores released today show San Mateo County students dropping down in some key measured areas of body composition and aerobic capacity, but holding steady in four other areas.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson released statewide figures today at a press briefing in El Cajon. Across the state, only 31 percent of students posted healthy scores in all six areas of the 2011 Physical Fitness Test. In San Mateo County, the percentage was 32.9 percent.

"Today's results are clear: when only 31 percent of children are physically fit, that's a public health challenge we can't wait to address," Torlakson said.

The test was administered to 1.34 million California students representing 93 percent of pupils enrolled in fifth, seventh, and ninth grades. 19,274 San Mateo County students took the test.

It uses a so-called Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) to indicate if the student's level of fitness is sufficient for good health.

To score in the HFZ, the test requires that a five-foot six-inch, 150-pound, 15-year-old ninth grade male run a mile within nine minutes, perform at least 16 push-ups, and do at least 24 curl-ups.

While aerobic capacity is an indicator of physical fitness, body composition is perhaps the most important indicator of who will develop future health problems.

As you can see in the tables we've compiled below, body composition - also considered the Body Mass Index - is an area where San Mateo students have dropped precipitously within just one year.

County fifth grader results show drops of nearly 14 percent from 2010 to 2011 in body composition testing, 14 percent for seventh graders, and 12 percent for ninth graders.

In San Mateo County, the Menlo Park City Elementary School District did very well; its 5th and 7th graders led all like-aged students in fitness scores, with nearly 2/3 of its students receiving excellent grades.

For 9th graders, Half Moon Bay High School, in the Cabrillo School District, led county freshmen with 44.4 per cent able to make it into the HFZ in all six of the eligible criteria. On the other end of the scale, at South San Francisco High School, only one of the 401 ninth-grade students tested could successfully pass all six health measures.

The 2011 Physical Fitness Test results for San Mateo County schools, school districts, other counties and the state are available on the California Department of Education Web site.

Here are graphs Patch has compiled for you, indicating a 2011 district-by-district comparison, and a 2011 to 2010 comparison across all the school districts.

2010-2011 San Mateo County Physical Fitness Report
District by District Comparison

Students tested Grade 5 Grade 7 Grade 9 6 of 6 fitness criteria meeting the HFZ Percent Percent Percent Belmont-Redwood Shores 624 37 65.7 n/a Burlingame Elementary 593 46.3 51.1 n/a Cabrillo Unified 761 39.6 30.3 44.4 Jefferson Elementary 1,313 29 42.5 n/a Jefferson Union 1,141 n/a n/a 31 La Honda-Pescadero 71 6.2 20 12.5 Las Lomitas Elementary 263 35 50 n/a Menlo Park Elementary 528 63.6 67.3 n/a Millbrae Elementary 541 42.1 56.7 n/a Pacifica 701 24.6 40.7 n/a Ravenswood City Elementary 744 12.6 15.1 n/a Redwood City Elementary 1,862 20.8 21.5 n/a San Bruno Park Elementary 547 21.4 36.2 n/a San Mateo Union High 2,024 n/a n/a 40.5 San Mateo-Foster City 2,188 34.2 35.8 n/a Sequoia Union High 1,853 n/a n/a 38 South San Fran Unified 2.055 15.9 13.3 0.3 Woodside Elementary 111 31.4 46.7 n/a HFZ=Health Fitness Zone

2010-2011 San Mateo County Physical Fitness Report
Summary of Results

Grade 5 Grade 7 Grade 9 Physical Fitness Area % in HFZ % in HFZ % in HFZ Aerobic Capacity 70.5 70.2 65.1 Body Composition 57.3 59.2 61.4 Abdominal Strength 82 87.4 90 Trunk Extension Strength 87.5 87.1 89.3 Upper Body Strength 75.4 74.4 72.8 Flexibility 70.4 74.8 71.7 HFZ=Health Fitness Zone (2010-2011 Summary)

 

 

2009-10 San Mateo County Physical Fitness Report
Summary of Results

Grade 5 Grade 7 Grade 9 Physical Fitness Area % in HFZ % in HFZ % in HFZ Aerobic Capacity 80 76.9 68.8 Body Composition 70.8 72.7 73.4 Abdominal Strength 84.7 87.7 88.2 Trunk Extension Strength 86.9 87.1 89.1 Upper Body Strength 77.9 74.1 71.9 Flexibility 69.4 78.7 79.8 HFZ=Health Fitness Zone (2009-2010 Summary)