Showing only gradual improvement from last year and making a worrying statement about the physical fitness of California’s students, just 30% of California’s African-American and Hispanic/Latino Ninth Graders were capable of passing all six fitness criteria in the most recent California Physical Fitness Test. This is contrasted with more than 52% of California’s Asian population and more than 46% of White students.

The students were tested on aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength, trunk extensor strength, upper body strength, and flexibility during the 2008-2009 school year. The study was released by the California Department of Education.

In Alameda County, only 39% of ninth graders met all six fitness criteria; 41% in Contra Costa County; 56% in Marin County; 37% in San Francisco County; 46% in Santa Clara; and 40% in Santa Cruz County.

As those numbers suggest, students from higher-income communities scored higher on the fitness test than those from lower-income communities. Students in the suburbs also generally scored higher than those from urban areas.

Below ninth grade, slightly more than 29% of fifth graders and more than 34% of all seventh graders passed all six tests. That number rises to almost 38% of ninth graders.

Compared with last year's results, fifth grade scores increased by less than 1%; seventh grade student scores rose by 1.2%; and ninth grade student scores increased by 2.3%.

The study data can be accessed at:

http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/PhysFitness/PFTestSt2007.asp?RptNumber=21&cYear=2008-09&cChoice=PFTest1