Contact: Phil Hearn
Mississippi State researchers will test the fitness levels of several hundred elementary school students this fall in an effort to focus attention on sedentary lifestyles and increasing obesity rates among the nation's youth.
More than 40 MSU kinesiology majors under the direction of professors Paul Rukavina and Randell Foxworth will test approximately 450 fourth and fifth graders at Starkville's Ward-Stewart School during the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 1.
"Our project is important because Mississippi, as a state, has an obesity rate of 30 percent among the general population, which is the highest in the nation," said Rukavina, an assistant professor of kinesiology who specializes in the study of human motor skills.
"Some 61.5 percent of children aged 9-13 do not participate in any organized physical activity during their non-school hours, and 22.6 percent do not engage in any free-time physical activity," he added. "We know that physically inactive kids grow up to live sedentary lifestyles."
Rukavina established a working partnership with Ward-Stewart principal Denise Rowan and physical education teacher Brenda Young in 2003, and conducted some preliminary tests last spring. Since then, he has received a $3,000 Ottilie Schillig Special Teaching program grant from MSU to purchase more comprehensive testing equipment.
"We will use a health-related fitness test called the Fitnessgram, which is designed by the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research and is recommended for youth fitness testing by the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance," said the Caledonia, Minn. native.
He said the testing will include curl-ups, push-ups, a pacer test that measures aerobic capacity, and a sit-and-reach test that measures flexibility. A child's body weight, as related to height, also will be recorded.
"For each component of health-related fitness, we will compare their test score to a standard," Rukavina said. "If they are above or below the standard, they get categorized either as 'in the healthy zone' or 'need improvement.'"
A single-paged report indicating how each student did on each test and recommendations for improving their fitness will be sent to parents, he noted.
"I think it will generally benefit the kids to know where they stand physically," said Young, who teaches each student in her physical education class only one day a week. For exercise space, she utilizes a converted former garage.
"Once a week really isn't a whole lot (of physical activity)," said the 14-year teaching veteran, Starkville native and former teacher at Starkville High School. "We hope to increase their interest in physical activity so they will do it at home. Anytime you can get parents involved, it's great.
"Kids today spend more time indoors doing other activities, computers and games, and are becoming more sedentary," she added. "Obesity is a growing problem."
Rukavina said the fitness project is an outgrowth of his department's test-and-measurement class, which includes 46 kinesiology students with undergraduate study concentrations in such fields as physical education teaching/coaching, fitness management, clinical exercise physiology, and sport communication.
"Their future careers include physical therapy, athletic training, physical education teachers, coaches, sport broadcasters, sport journalists, medical doctors, and respiratory therapists," he observed. "The major goal of the class is to introduce students to the principles of using assessment data to make decisions in their professions."
Rukavina said the project provides a practical learning experience for his students, while allowing them to "give something back to the community." They will rotate from the MSU department, chaired by Pamela Kirk, to the school during the testing week.
"Among adolescents and children age 6-19, almost nine million are overweight, according to data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control," he added. "The surgeon general's report in 1996 said Americans become less physically active with each year of age. Thus, it's important for children and adolescents to be active."
For more information, telephone Rukavina at (662)325-7231 or Foxworth at 325-1176.