More students pass California physical fitness test after 8 weeks in exercise program

One in five school-age children are obese, which raises their risk for diabetes, heart disease and other health problems. But many communities simply don ’t have the resources to combat this public health epidemic.Fortunately, a long-running UCLA program continues to help schools provide much-needed training and facilities for their students. TheUCLA Health Sound Body Sound Mind program has installed fitness centers at more than 130 underserved middle schools and high schools in California, Colorado, Florida and Massachusetts.During the 2016 –17 school year, 12 Los Angeles schools were among the newest sites to adopt the program, expanding the initiative to 15,000 more students. UCLA research found that the initiative made a significant difference in their ability to pass California’s state-mandated fitness test, Fitnessgram.Across the 12 schools overall, only 37.8 percent of students passed the test before the equipment was installed and the curriculum was offered; after just eight weeks of the program, 57.3 percent of students passed. At one of the schools, the pass rate went from 8 percent before the program to 44 percent after eight weeks; at another, the success rate increased to 81 percent from 38 percent eight weeks earlier. (Researchers tested groups of 100 students at each school.)“Our population, and especially our young people, are getting heavier, and it’s extremely troubling,” saidDr. David McAllister, a UCLA orthopaedic surgeon and a member of the So...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news