Kids in public schools could once again be competing against one another in the Presidential Fitness Test. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday, July 31, that brings back the test that was abandoned in 2012.
Why is President Trump bringing back the test?
Flanked by several high-profile athletes in the Roosevelt room of the White House, Trump signed the order bringing back the test that was first introduced during the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s. The test was dropped by the Obama administration, which argued that an annual competition does not inspire healthy lifestyle choices and can be humiliating to those who don’t fare well.
“From the late 1950s until the late 2013, graduate scholars all across our country competed against each other in the President Fitness Test, and it was a big deal,” Trump said. “This was a wonderful tradition, and we’re bringing it back.”
The order addresses “the widespread epidemic of declining health and physical fitness” in the U.S. by creating programs that reward “excellence in physical education,” according to the White House.
What is the test, and how will it be administered?
The school-age test includes some combination of push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups and running. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr will administer it. In a report to Congress in February, he voiced concerns about “crisis levels” of childhood obesity, chronic disease, inactivity and poor nutrition.
“We need to reinstill that spirit of competition and that spirit and that commitment to nutrition and physical fitness.” Secretary Kennedy said Thursday.
Who was present during Thursday’s signing?
The Presidential Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition added several members during the ceremony, including professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau and LPGA legend Annika Sörenstam, Hall of Fame linebacker and long-time Trump friend Lawrence Taylor, current Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker and Paul Levesque, perhaps better known as the WWE’s “Triple H.”
“Since I was 14, this has been such an important part of my life, health, fitness, sports, nutrition, all of it,” Levesque said. “I think learning that at a young age sets you up for success in life.”
The revived fitness test will likely replace the current Youth Fitness Test, which “minimizes comparisons between children and instead supports students as they pursue personal fitness goals for lifelong health,” according to the Health and Human Services Department website.
What other sports-related orders have been signed?
Thursday’s order is one of several that Trump has signed involving sports, including the most recent attempt to regulate payments to college athletes. He also signed an order banning transgender competitors in Olympic competition.
Those orders precede several milestone sporting events taking place in the U.S. during the next few years, including Golf’s Ryder Cup in late September, the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics. The president is heavily invested in ensuring all of those events are a success.
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Author: Chris Francis
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