Physical activity and physical fitness summary
Answers
Physical fitness is a state of being that reflects a person’s ability to perform specific exercises or functions, and is related to present and future health outcomes. In the United States, serious efforts to assess the physical fitness of youth with a battery of tests began in the 19th century. These efforts intensified during times of war, focused primarily on improving athletic performance and military preparedness. Over time, the focus of such surveys shifted to assessing health rather than performance, reflecting growing concern about the current and future health of the nation’s youth. While measures of performance-related fitness are designed to evaluate a person’s capability to carry out certain physical tasks or activities, the focus of health-related fitness testing is on the concurrent or future health status of the subject under assessment.
The first U.S. national survey of youth fitness in 1958 was followed by surveys in 1965 and 1975 and then in 1985-1986. States and schools have continued to assess fitness in youth during the past two decades; after the 1985-1986 survey, however, there was no national-level assessment of youth fitness until 2012, as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Several factors may account for this gap, including the fact that interest and effort have been directed more toward understanding the role of physical activity in youth. This shift and the challenges inherent in associating fitness in youth with health have resulted in few advances in our understanding of the physiology and outcomes of fitness.
Answer:
Physical fitness is a state of being that reflects a person’s ability to perform specific exercises or functions, and is related to present and future health outcomes. In the United States, serious efforts to assess the physical fitness of youth with a battery of tests began in the 19th century. These efforts intensified during times of war, focused primarily on improving athletic performance and military preparedness. Over time, the focus of such surveys shifted to assessing health rather than performance, reflecting growing concern about the current and future health of the nation’s youth. While measures of performance-related fitness are designed to evaluate a person’s capability to carry out certain physical tasks or activities, the focus of health-related fitness testing is on the concurrent or future health status of the subject under assessment.
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