A review of children’s fitness testing

Abstract

A review of literature on children's fitness testing formed part of a study exploring the feasibility of fitness testing children in order to promote their physical activity and health status. The review revealed that there is no empirical evidence to support concerns about low levels of fitness amongst children or a decline in children's fitness over time. Further, there is only weak evidence that physical fitness is related to children's current health although growing evidence that it may be related to future health. However, the measurement of children's fitness is problematic, given methodological limitations and the possible negative impact on some children. Additionally, the use of children's fitness test data to inform policy and practice is limited, and there is little evidence that large scale surveys on children's fitness have positively impacted on children's health, activity and fitness. Based on the review, recommendations are included for policy makers and practitioners which reflect the shift towards a stronger emphasis on physical activity within health promotion.

First normative reference of standing long jump indicates gender difference in lower muscular strength of Macedonian school children

“…In the recent years, there were many scientific works and researches published, particularly by USA authors, elaborating certain problems and issues connected with follow-up of the fitness within the teaching of physical education [24][25][26][27]. One of the most important issues being discussed in these researches is the issue of establishing normative reference that would allow proper assessment, interpretation and comparison of the level of physical fitness of school children in terms of the age, gender, region etc.…”

Health related physical fitness of Bosnian-Herzegovinian and Serbian primary school students

“…нормативни референти стандард, у коме су биле дефинисане норме (посебно за дечаке и де-војчице према узрасту) за све компоненте physical tness-a, појављује се критеријумски референт-ни стандард -eng. Criterion-Referenced Standards (Harris, & Cale, 2006). Приликом коришћења нор-ми, теоријски, наставник је могао пратити проме-не у вредностима код неког ученика упоређујући његове резултате са дефинисаним нормама, али добијени резултати нису много говорили о здрав-ственом стању ученика.…”

“…Within this concept, there are novelties within the referent standard used in batteries of tests for assessment of physical fitness. Unlike earlier batteries of tests that used the so-called normative referenced standard, in which norms were defined (separately for boys and girls according to the age), Criterion-Referenced Standards appear for all components of physical fitness (Harris, & Cale, 2006). While using norms, theoretically, the teacher could monitor changes in values in a student by comparing his results with the defined norms, but the obtained results did not show much about the health condition of a student.…”

Motivational Responses to Fitness Testing by Award Status and Gender

“…According to the President's Council for Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS, 2003), one objective of fitness testing is to encourage and motivate individuals to adopt and adhere to physical activity behaviors across the lifespan. In their review of research related to fitness tests, Harris and Cale (2006) indicated that advocates for fitness tests argued that testing programs increased children's motivation to participate in regular physical activity. Other scholars, however, argued that there had not been sufficient empirical investigation concerning how students experience fitness tests and their motivational implications (Fox & Biddle, 1988).…”