Texas Youth Fitness Evaluation Project

New Health and Fitness Initiative Could Combat Physical Inactivity
and Obesity Among Texas School Children

The Cooper Institute's "Texas Youth Fitness Evaluation Project"
Could Provide Key to Assessing Current Fitness Levels

Senator Jane Nelson and Representative Rob Eissler announced at the Texas Capitol this afternoon a new student fitness initiative designed to combat obesity-related illnesses. Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., founder and chairman of the board of The Cooper Institute summarized the current state of the health of Texas school children and outlined a plan to scientifically assess the current fitness levels of Texas school-aged children.

The legislation aims to reemphasize physical activity as a crucial element of school curriculum, taking physical education classes from optional to mandatory. "In education, there are fundamentals and there are electives. Our health is as fundamental as reading, writing and arithmetic-a lesson we must teach our students," said Senator Nelson, a former school teacher and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. "This legislation will give us a better understanding about how the physical health of our students affects academic achievement, dropout rates, absenteeism, and other issues."

Legislative components include:

• Transfer authority over daily physical activity to the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
• Strengthen the definition of daily physical activity to "moderate or vigorous" and restore the 30-minute requirement as a minimum, not a maximum.
• Clarify that structured exercise must be offered in addition to recess for lower grade levels.
• Require a confidential physical fitness assessment of K through 12 students two times per year.
• Direct TEA to analyze the results by school district, correlating results to student academic achievement levels, attendance levels, obesity, disciplinary problems and school meal programs.

The fitness program that sparked the proposal of the bill was the "Texas Youth Fitness Evaluation Project," created by the nonprofit 501(C)3 Cooper Institute. The Cooper Institute intends to apply to TEA to administer the evaluation portion of the program through its FITNESSGRAM/ACTIVITYGRAM. To evaluate the approximately 4.2 million students in grades K through 12 in Texas, $5 million to $10 million would need to be raised through public and private funds.

"When people ask me what we should be focusing on in the healthcare industry, it is an easy answer-childhood obesity and inactivity," said Dr. Cooper. "Approximately 33 percent of U.S. children 6 to 19 years of age are either obese or borderline obese. With the Texas Youth Fitness Evaluation Project, we are hoping to provide indisputable data that physical fitness in schools is not only one of the best ways to combat childhood obesity, but also to improve academic performance."

The Texas Youth Fitness Evaluation Project has already gained support from numerous individuals and organizations including Governor Rick Perry; Shirley J. Neeley, commissioner of education, Texas Education Agency; Quincy S. Neal, national vice president, American Diabetes Association; and Texas State Senator Florence Shapiro.

THE COOPER INSTITUTE
The Cooper Institute was founded as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) in June 1970 by Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H. Located in Dallas on the grounds of Cooper Aerobics Center, it focuses on preventive medicine research and health education, promotion and certification. Areas of research include epidemiology, exercise physiology, behavior change, cancer prevention, children's health, obesity, nutrition, aging, diabetes, hypertension, weight management, health communication and other health issues. Certification programs and training courses are delivered worldwide to thousands of health and fitness professionals each year. For more information about The Cooper Institute, visit www.cooperinst.org.

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