Mississippi State senior sports communication major Justin Mitchener of Starkville starts four fifth-graders on a run to test their fitness levels at Starkville's Ward-Stewart School. MSU kinesiology department students under the direction of professors Paul Rukavina and Randell Foxworth are testing the fitness of several hundred elementary school students this week as part of a research project that may focus attention on sedentary lifestyles and increasing obesity rates among the nation's youth.