Project Fit America's Impact on Youth Fitness Levels: Second Year Curriculum

Background: Project Fit America (PFA) curriculum was initiated in 1990 with a mission to provide opportunities for all American children to be fit with unique lessons and outdoor fitness equipment. Purpose: In this study, the physical education (PE) fitness testing scores of elementary school students were examined to determine the effect of PFA curriculum inclusion. Methods: A total of 72 (M= 31, F=41) 4th and 5th grade students participated. Students were divided into one of four groups: males experiencing (EM) or not experiencing (NEM) the PFA curriculum and females experiencing (EF) and not experiencing (NEF) the PFA curriculum. At this school, fitness testing was completed twice a year as part of regular PE assessment and included the following activities: cadence push-ups, cadence curl-ups, sit and reach, and the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) test. Findings: The EM group showed significant increases in their post-test scores for both curl-ups (t(20) = -2.348, p = 0.029) and PACER (t(19) = -2.806, p = 0.011) while the EF group showed significant increases for average sit and reach (t(25) = -2.518, p = 0.019) only. The NEM group showed significantly greater post-test scores for curl-ups (t(9) = -2.427, p = 0.038). The NEF group showed no significant increases for any of the four tests. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that PFA inclusion serves to improve student's physical fitness measures.