Trump will bring back push up, mile run test for school kids
On July 31, President Donald Trump will sign an executive order that reestablishes the Presidential Fitness Test for teens and preteens in America's public schools, said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The fitness test requires students to complete a range of physical challenges ranging from sit-ups to pull-ups.
"MAKE AMERICA FIT AGAIN!" Leavitt wrote in a post on X.
The Presidential Fitness Test was a part of American physical education classes from the time it was first initiated by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 to the 2012-2013 school year. That's when President Barack Obama replaced it with a program designed to focus on long-term student health over physical performance.
Donald Trump invites athletes To White House as he reinstates Presidential Fitness Test
What does Trump's order say?
The executive order says the Trump administration is reintroducing the test in the nation's public schools because of the high rates of obesity and chronic disease in the United States. Trump directed Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to renew the test.
The president also reestablished the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, formerly known as the President's Council on Youth Fitness, created by Eisenhower in 1956. The White House called the move an attempt "to develop bold and innovative fitness goals for young Americans with the aim of fostering a new generation of healthy, active citizens."
Trump directed the reestablished council to create school-based programs that "reward excellence in physical education and develop criteria for a Presidential Fitness Award" in his order.
"This Order ensures American youth will have opportunities at the global, national, State, and local levels that emphasize the importance of an active lifestyle, good nutrition, American sports, and military readiness," the White House said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Why did the Presidential Fitness Test go away?
The Obama administration replaced the Presidential Fitness Test with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program to shift the focus on physical fitness in schools away from student performance and toward students' overall health as they grow into adulthood.
"The program minimizes comparisons between children and instead supports students as they pursue personal fitness goals for lifelong health," reads a previous description of the program from the Department of Health and Human Services website.
Paul Roetert, former chief executive officer of the Society of Health and Physical Educators, said at the time that it was implemented "to keep fitness in a positive mode," Education Week reported in 2012."Children's individual fitness scores will not be used as a criteria for grading in physical education class and will be confidential between the teacher, student and parent," Roetert said.
Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, also supported the change when it was implemented more than a decade ago, the news outlet reported.
"This assessment will be a great way to evaluate the health impact of physical education programs in schools and allow for a standardized comparison of fitness levels of children across the country," Brown said.
Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@usatoday.com. Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.
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