U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Trump administration's new presidential fitness test is aimed at making kids healthier and more active.
Kennedy stopped at the YMCA in Newton on Monday with 1st District Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks to promote the program. They also observed kids trying out planks, push-ups and other exercises benchmarked in the test.
The Obama administration moved away from the test in its own youth fitness program. Kennedy said that was a mistake.
"We think the sedentary condition of many of our children is contributing to this malaise, to the mental health crisis, to the physical fitness crisis, to the chronic disease crisis in our country," Kennedy said.
Kennedy said the fitness test is one way the Trump White House is looking to make changes in schools aimed at improving student health. Kennedy said school food is "terrible" and cellphones in schools are distracting students and harming their mental health.
"We're pushing bell-to-bell legislation for cellphones as part of it. The sedentary lifestyle and too much screen time, which is really feeding this mental health crisis," Kennedy said.
A focus on academics and competitive sports took emphasis away from general student fitness, Miller-Meeks said, but returning to the presidential fitness test will encourage students to be more active.
"I think we're going to have healthier kids as a result — not just physically healthier, but we know that endorphin levels increase with physical activity. So we're going to have kids that are mentally and emotionally healthier," Miller-Meeks said.
The test sets challenging benchmarks. To achieve the Presidential Fitness Award, a 10-year-old boy is asked to plank for 119 seconds and run a mile in just under eight minutes.
But Miller-Meeks said the program is not meant to intimidate kids.
"I can remember doing these. I'm not the biggest kid, so I wasn't the fastest kid. But nonetheless, it's emphasizing the fun of what you're doing and getting kids moving and how that translates to other activities they may want to do," she said.
The revamped fitness test will be part of physical education classes under the Iowa Make America Healthy Again law Gov. Kim Reynolds signed in May. Iowa Department of Education guidance allows districts to decide how the test is done and how often students have to take it.
At his appearance on Monday, Kennedy did not address an outbreak of measles in southern Iowa. State health officials said, as of Sunday, 12 confirmed infections have been identified. A small group of protesters demonstrated outside the Newton YMCA, criticizing proposals by the administration and Kennedy to scale back vaccine recommendations for children.
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