![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.png)
BACKGROUND: Kansas Fitness Information Tracking (K-FIT) provides training and technical assistance to schools statewide on the use of FITNESSGRAM®, an online system that enables schools to incorporate uniform fitness testing into their physical education curriculum and submit students’ results to the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE).
METHODS: During the 2011/2012 school year, 152 schools across Kansas submitted FITNESSGRAM results to KSDE on more than 17,000 students. KSDE linked student-level data from various sources to create the K-FIT database, including demographics, absenteeism, reading and math performance assessment results, and FITNESSGRAM results for five fitness tests: aerobic capacity, curl-up, trunk lift, 90 degree push-up, and back-saver sit and reach. For each test, students were categorized based on whether or not their score met the FITNESSGRAM Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) standard. Hierarchical generalized logistic regression models were constructed using the SAS GLIMMIX procedure with school modeled as a random effect to compute odds ratios and 95 percent confidence intervals.
RESULTS: Approximately 78 percent of K-FIT students met the HFZ standard for aerobic capacity. The odds of not meeting the HFZ standard for aerobic capacity were significantly higher among females as compared to males (OR=2.16, 95% CI: 1.96-2.39); students in grade 9 as compared to students in grade 4 (OR=1.53; 95% CI: 1.02-2.28) and Hispanic as compared to non-Hispanic (NH) white students (OR=1.39; 95% CI: 1.21-1.59). Approximately 36 percent of K-FIT students were overweight or obese. The odds of being overweight/obese were significantly higher among NH African American as compared to NH white students (OR=1.25; 95% CI: 1.09-1.44) and Hispanic as compared to NH white students (OR=1.63; 95% CI: 1.47-1.82). Among K-FIT students who completed all five fitness measures, 74 percent of those who met HFZ standards for all five fitness tests were above reading performance standards while only 50 percent of those who met HFZ standards for fewer than two fitness tests were above standards (OR=1.48; 95% CI: 1.30-1.67). A similar relationship was observed for math performance.
CONCLUSIONS: K-FIT results from the 2011/2012 school year further understanding of the relationship between student fitness and academic performance, and highlight the importance of physical education and physical activity to the academic mission of schools.