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REGION: Wealthier districts have fitter students, tests indicate
Official: Parents in poor regions can't afford extra activities for children
By STACY BRANDT - Staff Writer | ∞
Ninth-grader Miles Peek joined fellow students in doing push-ups during their physical education class at San Marcos High School on Friday. (Photo by Don Boomer - Staff Photographer) NORTH COUNTY ---- Students in wealthier school districts tend to be in better shape than those in poorer areas, according to state fitness tests released Tuesday.
In affluent districts such as Poway Unified, Carlsbad and San Dieguito Union, not only do students do better on academic tests, they can also do more sit-ups and push-ups, the test results show.
About half of the students in those districts passed state fitness tests this year, compared with about a third statewide.
The series of six physical fitness tests are given each year to all public school students across the state in fifth, seventh and ninth grade. The tests assess aerobic capability, body composition, strength, flexibility and endurance.
In North County, students in Oceanside Unified, Vista Unified and Escondido Union ---- districts that have struggled with lower standardized test scores over the years ---- scored below the state average in grades five and seven. However, ninth-graders in Vista and Escondido were above state and county averages.
Oceanside had the weakest results, with less than a quarter of students meeting fitness expectations.
People with more money are able to sign up their children for more after school sports and activities than poorer parents, said Mary Blackman, coordinator for physical education and health for the San Diego County Office of Education.
"Oftentimes, there isn't as much available for those kids," she said about students in poorer neighborhoods.
Because of this, it's important for districts to ensure that there are plenty of opportunities for students to keep active in before- and after-school programs, Blackman said.
In general, students in San Diego County did slightly better on the tests than their peers throughout the state. Still, in most districts, less than half of the students met all of the goals.
Across the county, scores for students in fifth and seventh grade dropped slightly, while those for ninth-graders soared 8 percentage points from 27 percent to 35 percent.
Statewide, scores for all three grades went up this year.
"While our California students are slowly making improvements on these measurements, the percentage of students who aren’t even minimally fit are too high," state Superintendent Jack O'Connell said during a teleconference Tuesday. "We clearly have a long way to go to eradicate the silent epidemic of childhood obesity and poor nutritional health."
O'Connell attributed the rise in scores to a number of things, including new physical education standards and more fruits and vegetables on campus.
Over the last several years, schools have worked to change lunch menus and remove sugary snacks as a way to combat a growing obesity problem among the country's children.
Healthier students also typically do better in school, O'Connell said.
"We know that strong bodies and strong minds work together to help all of our students succeed," he said.
It's important for parents to encourage their children to be as active as possible, said Jack Steinfeld, chairman of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
"When children are physically active and eating well, their confidence, focus, and self-esteem improve," he said.
Some educators have complained that an increasing focus on math and English test scores have caused schools to cut funding for physical education and sports.
Steinfeld, said he thinks teachers are becoming more creative to find ways to incorporate physical activity into academic lessons.
"They go hand in hand," he said about academics and fitness. "One should not be without the other."
Contact staff writer Stacy Brandt at (760) 901-4009 or sbrandt@nctimes.com.
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FTM wrote on Nov 25, 2008 7:17 PM:It's true - all my friends accross the border in Carlsbad make more money and thier wives don't work. Thier kids are involved in soccer and stuff like that.
Here in Oceanside I find most people are like me, they work and thier spouse works too. My wife is always tired every night when she gets home.
We try to keep the kids active, but we are pooped too.
It's always better for the kids if one of the parants can make a lot of money so the other can stay home.
No big secrets revealed here.
jvc wrote on Nov 25, 2008 8:36 PM:What! We have a class structure in our
country? I thought we were all equal and start at the same starting line?
No excuses wrote on Nov 25, 2008 10:22 PM:I was very active in sports growing up.
Dad mechanic and mom admin.
No excuses, just made it work
No more excuses and no more 10th place ribbons.
No More wrote on Nov 26, 2008 8:07 AM:Stop making excuses!
You do not need to be wealthy to be fit.
No more excuses and no more 10th place ribbons.
John E wrote on Nov 26, 2008 8:17 AM:If you want your kids to develop lifelong fitness habits, have them walk or ride bicycles to school and other activities. Get them accustomed to walking to and from the transit line, and teach them how to read bus schedules. Stop driving them to school.
HeavyMachinery wrote on Nov 26, 2008 9:28 AM:So now that this has been identified, I am sure the schools in North County need to be infiltrated by all the others so they have an equal chance at something... for nothing. The standard Liberal way for doing business. You know, "Spread the wealth." Some people work hard and the other come in and just "take."
WIJG wrote on Nov 26, 2008 12:05 PM:I grew up in a blue collar family. Both my parents worked full time. They both encouraged exercise, and we kids grew up relatively fit.
Just a crazy thought - I know it's not politically correct - but maybe, just maybe, people who live in the wealthier areas are smarter, fitter, and richer because of their better habits and decisions, and not just because they have more money.
Vince wrote on Nov 26, 2008 5:13 PM:This is obvious - Poor people eat fast food for every meal, wealthy people don't.
Jim S wrote on Nov 30, 2008 10:52 PM:Please note that even in the higher scoring schools, only 50% of the students passed the fitness tests. That's pitiful. Conditions in the schools affect this heavily. In the rush to testing and accountability, I have seen PE time squeezed out to make more time for narrowly focused test preparation. This affects other programs as well--music, art, even social studies and science as well. In today's budget climate, money for PE specialists and for equipment is hard to find. In the richer districts, parents (usually through the PTA or a foundation) pony up the money to replace some of what has been lost. This is especially true in the wealthier North County coastal districts. The effects are cumulative, with children who spend less time in physical activity in the primary grades falling further and further behind their more active counterparts.
Of course, home and community conditions play important roles too. Communities with low crime rates and effective law enforcement presence are what makes it possible for kids to walk/bike to school. Patterns of de facto residential segregation by race and income produce wide disparities in the safety of children from neighborhood to neighborhood throughout the county and state. These differences may reflect economic inequities in municipal services--maintenance, fire and police protection, etc., as well as education funding.
Lots of organized sports activities after school help, of course, but such things require money and time away from the job that not all parents can provide.
Nutrition is imortant too, of course, but economic realities prevail here, too. Poor people eat more high fat, high carb fast food because it's cheaper, because anyone working two (or three) jobs finds it difficult to shop and coo,, and because latch-key kids can access it.
These are children, and, as such, cannot be expected to bootstrap themselves up. All of us bear some responsibility for the conditions that harm them--especially the economic inequities that pervade so much of our day to day life. What shall we do?
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