FitnessGram

Health & Physical Education - Oak Grove Elementary - DeKalb County School District

ONLINE LEARNING

https://fitnessgram.net/onlinelearning/ 

GA DOE Fitness Assessment Overview

https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Documents/Georgia-Fitness-Assessment.pdf

Why fitnessgram?

FitnessGram®: The Cooper Institute developed FitnessGram®, the first “student fitness report card,” in an effort to improve school physical education programs and bring awareness to children’s health. It is a health-related youth fitness assessment that utilizes evidence-based standards to measure the level of fitness needed for good overall health. Just as students should know their academic progress in the classroom, students should know their fitness levels and understand the relationship between fitness and health.

Beyond Assessment – Driving Healthy Decisions through Quality Data

We can’t manage what we don’t measure, and we know that fitness levels decline as students get older. FitnessGram® provides students, teachers, parents and administrators the standards and awareness of fitness levels needed for good health. This information is critical to making positive, healthy changes.

The data available from FitnessGram® can:

Used globally for more than 30 years, FitnessGram® reaches more than 20,000 schools and 10 million students.

Health-Related Fitness Components

The FitnessGram® test battery assesses health-related fitness components: aerobic capacity, body composition, and muscular strength, endurance, and flexibility. Activity assessments are included for step or minute challenges, physical activity behaviors, and overall activity levels to provide teachers with a variety of ways to promote physical activity to students. 

Aerobic Capacity

Aerobic capacity is evaluated using estimates of VO2max (also known as maximal oxygen uptake). VO2max reflects the maximum rate that the respiratory, cardiovascular, and muscular systems can take in, transport, and use oxygen during exercise. Good aerobic capacity (cardiorespiratory fitness) has been shown to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, obesity, diabetes, the metabolic syndrome, and some forms of cancer.

All Aerobic Capacity “Healthy Fitness Zone®" scores are reported as estimates of VO2max. Higher VO2max scores reflect a greater ability to take in and use oxygen and a greater potential to perform endurance exercise.

Muscular Strength, Endurance & Flexibility

Test components for the musculoskeletal system are broken down into three primary areas: muscular strength, muscular endurance and flexibility. FitnessGram® tests these three areas to assess the functional health status of the musculoskeletal system.

FitnessGram® recommends tests of the upper body and the abdominal/trunk areas to assess musculoskeletal fitness because of their relationship to activities of daily living, good posture, and back health.

Musculoskeletal fitness helps an individual perform daily activities more easily, reduces the risk of injury, and improves abdominal and back health. Most important, helping children and youth be aware of the status of their muscular strength, endurance and flexibility can carry forward into adulthood, preventing health concerns and improving quality of life. 

Body Composition

Body composition describes what part of total body weight is fat, and what part is fat free. Fat-free body weight includes bones and muscles. FitnessGram® believes it is important to educate youth and parents about appropriate levels of body composition. Some body fat is needed for overall good health, but too much can lead to health problems, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Overweight youth are at a higher risk for becoming overweight adults. Therefore, by maintaining a healthy weight a child can potentially reduce their future risk of health problems.

FitnessGram® body composition standards are based on percent body fat. Although an assessment of percent body fat utilizing a bioelectric impendence device or skin-fold assessment would be ideal, practical application in schools is very difficult. Therefore, FitnessGram® also provides standards for a widely used alternative indicator of body composition known as Body Mass Index (BMI).

The BMI is based on weight relative to height and essentially indicates if the weight is appropriate for the height. BMI cannot measure fat directly, but it can help assess health risks related to a body weight that is too great or too little for the height. FitnessGram® BMI standards for youth take into account age and gender.

Healthy Fitness Zone® Standards

Back Saver Sit & Reach

Curl Ups - boys & girls

Pacer - boys & girls

Push Ups (90 degrees) - boys & girls

FitnessGram® is unique, and widely accepted, because the fitness assessments are evaluated using criterion-referenced standards. An advantage of criterion-referenced standards, over percentile norms, is they are based on levels of fitness for good health. The amount of fitness needed for good health differs between boys and girls and it also varies across age. 

FitnessGram® classifies fitness levels using discrete zones to allow for more personalized feedback. The two primary zones are the Healthy Fitness Zone® and the Needs Improvement Zone; however, for aerobic capacity and body composition two distinct Needs Improvement and Needs Improvement-Health Risk Zones are used to make further distinctions in fitness. The use of three zones makes it possible to provide more effective prescriptive messages to youth since the zones are based on clear differences in potential health risks.

Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ)

The goal in FitnessGram® is for children to achieve the Healthy Fitness Zone® on as many assessments as possible. Because only modest amounts of activity are needed to obtain health benefits, most students who perform regular physical activity will be able to achieve a score that will place them within or above the Healthy Fitness Zone® on most FitnessGram® test items. If children are in the Healthy Fitness Zone® they are considered to have sufficient fitness for good health.

Needs Improvement

Indicates that if the student continues to track at this level there is the potential for future health risks. However, this potential is possible, not probable. Increased activity as well as eating a healthy, controlled diet could delay or reverse this potential risk. Children in the Needs Improvement Zone receive messaging on their FitnessGram® reports explaining how they should strive to move into the Healthy Fitness Zone®.

Needs Improvement-Health Risk

Indicates that if the student continues to track at this level there is a clear potential for future health problems (a more probable risk). The need for increased activity and eating a healthy diet is more urgent for students in this category than those in the Needs Improvement Zone. Children in the Needs Improvement-Health Risk Zone receive messages warning them of probable risk if they continue tracking at this level.



FITNESSGRAM Date Entry


FITNESSGRAM Resources

PACER


PUSH UPS