Physical fitness is a popular topic today. and its
popularity has been a major factor in motivating college students to pursue
careers in physical edu-cation, physiology of exercise, health education,
nutrition, physical therapy, and medicine. The Public Health Service
listed "physical fitness and exercise- as one of fifteen areas of concern
related to improving the country's overall health (N).
While this might appear to be an unprecedented event. similar interests and concerns about physical fit-ness existed in this country over one hundred years ago. Between the Civil War and the First World War (WW 1), physical education was primarily concerned with the development and maintenance of fitness, and many of the leaders in physical education were trained in medicine For example, Dr. Dudley Sargent, hired by Harvard University in 1879, set up a physical training program with individual exercise prescriptions to improve a person's structure and function to achieve "that prime physical condition called fitness fitness for work, fitness for play, fitness for anything a man may be called upon to do.. Sargent was clearly ahead of his time in promoting healthrelated fitness. Later, war became a primary force driving this country's interest in physical fitness.
Concerns about health and fitness were raised during int WW I and WW H when large numbers of draftees failed the induction exams due to mental and physical defects . These concerns influenced the )gy type of physical education programs in the schools of during these years, making them resemble premilitary training programs .
While this might appear to be an unprecedented event. similar interests and concerns about physical fit-ness existed in this country over one hundred years ago. Between the Civil War and the First World War (WW 1), physical education was primarily concerned with the development and maintenance of fitness, and many of the leaders in physical education were trained in medicine For example, Dr. Dudley Sargent, hired by Harvard University in 1879, set up a physical training program with individual exercise prescriptions to improve a person's structure and function to achieve "that prime physical condition called fitness fitness for work, fitness for play, fitness for anything a man may be called upon to do.. Sargent was clearly ahead of his time in promoting healthrelated fitness. Later, war became a primary force driving this country's interest in physical fitness.
Concerns about health and fitness were raised during int WW I and WW H when large numbers of draftees failed the induction exams due to mental and physical defects . These concerns influenced the )gy type of physical education programs in the schools of during these years, making them resemble premilitary training programs .
The present interest in
physical activity and health was stimulated in the early 1950s by two major
find-, A ings: autopsies of young soldiers killed during the to Korean War
showed that significant coronary artery :ed disease had already developed, and Hans Kraus his showed that American children performed poorly on a )ne
minimal muscular fitness test compared to European the children . Due to the
latter finding, Presi-dent Eisenhower initiated a conference in 1955 that
resulted in the formation of the President's Council on Youth Fitness. The
American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (AAHPER)
sup-ported these activities and in 1957 developed the AAHPER Youth Fitness Test
with national norms to be used in physical education programs throughout the
country.
Before he was inaugurated, President Kennedy expressed his concerns about
the nation's at fitness in an article published in Sports Illustrated, called
"The Soft American" : For the physical vigor of our citizens is one
of America's most precious resources. If we waste and neglect this resource, if
we allow it to dwindle and grow soft, then we will destroy much of our ability
to meet the great and vital challenges its which confront our people.
We will
be unable to iing realize our full potential as a nation. du-ion, During
Kennedy's term the council's name was )80, changed to the "President's
Council on Physical and Fitness" to highlight the concern for fitness. The
ited name was changed again in the Nixon administra-hile tion to the current
"President's Council on Physical ent, Fitness and Sports," which
supports fitness not only fit in schools but in business, industry, and for
the genears eral public .
Items in the War Youth Fitness Test were changed
over the years, and ned in 1980 the American Alliance for Health, Physical
Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD) published a separate Health-Related
Physical Fitness Test Manual to distinguish between "performance
testing" (e.g., 50 yard dash) and "fitness testing" (e.g.,
skinfold thickness). This health-related test battery is consistent with the
direction of lifetime fitness programs, being concerned with obesity,
cardiorespiratory fitness, and low-back function. For those readers interested
in the history of fitness testing in schools, we recommend Park's monograph in
the Suggested Readings.
Paralleling this
interest in the physical fitness of youth was the rising concern about the
death rate from coronary heart disease in the middle-aged American
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