Tampa, FL – A federal youth fitness initiative brought Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to a Tampa high school Thursday.<\/p>\n
Kennedy visited Gaither High School with U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee to promote the return of the Presidential Fitness Test. <\/p>\n
The program measures students\u2019 strength and cardiovascular endurance while encouraging healthier habits.<\/p>\n
The updated test evaluates three areas. Students can complete curl-ups or a plank for core strength, a one-mile run or 20-meter beep test for cardiovascular fitness, and right-angle push-ups or pull-ups for upper-body strength.<\/p>\n
Performance targets vary by age and sex. Students who reach the highest benchmarks in all three categories can receive the Presidential Physical Fitness Award. <\/p>\n
The National Physical Fitness Award recognizes another achievement level, while students who complete the test may receive participation certificates.<\/p>\n
Lee said restoring the program allows students to establish goals, challenge themselves and make their health a priority.<\/p>\n
Kennedy has promoted the test as part of the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to address childhood obesity, chronic disease, sedentary behavior and excessive screen time. <\/p>\n
Federal health officials reported that nearly one in five American children is overweight or obese.<\/p>\n
The federal youth fitness campaign began during the 1950s and expanded under President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy Jr.\u2019s uncle.<\/p>\n
The Presidential Physical Fitness Award was established in 1966.<\/p>\n
The traditional test was replaced in 2012 by a program emphasizing personal health and improvement.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump later directed the President\u2019s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition to restore it.<\/p>\n
Federal officials formally relaunched the test in June and said schools would begin administering it this fall using updated standards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tampa, FL – A federal youth fitness initiative brought Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[154058,39088,77716,8875,154057,121018,154059,3384,135,137,154061,136,154060],"class_list":["post-384503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-fitness-test","tag-gaither-high-school","tag-john-f-kennedy","tag-laurel-lee","tag-presidential-fitness-test","tag-rfk-jr","tag-student-benchmarks","tag-students","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-high-school","tag-tampa-news","tag-youth-fitness-initiative"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}