Student Physical Fitness Quick Facts

(based on Louisiana’s Fitness Assessment Brief )

During the 2009-10 academic year, 15 school districts submitted student physical fitness assessment data to the Picard Center. More than 25,000 students in these districts participated in Louisiana’s Fitness Assessment.

Body Mass Index

  • One out of two students (50%) were classified as either overweight or obese and are at risk for developing health-related issues.

  • 47% of students had a healthy BMI.

  • 45% of students had an overweight or obese BMI.

  • 2% of students had an underweight BMI.

Fitness by Gender

  • 51% of female students had an overweight or obese BMI.

  • 49% of male students had an overweight or obese BMI.

Fitness Assessment Passage Rates

  • Of the participants who completed all five fitness subtests, 63% passed over half of the subtests (three or more).

  • Of the participants who completed all five fitness subtests, 32% passed less than half of the subtests (one or two subtests).

  • Of the participants who completed all five fitness subtests, 5% did not pass any subtest.

Health and Academics

  • Students who passed 75% or more of the fitness subtests tended to perform in a higher category on the LEAP test (Advanced, Mastery or Basic).

  • Students who passed less than 50% of the fitness subtests tended to perform in a lower category on the LEAP test (Approaching Basic or Unsatisfactory).

Health and Behavior

  • Students with no behavior incidences performed slightly better than those students with either one or two or more behavior incidences.

  • 29% of students with no behavior incidences passed 75% or more fitness subtests, while 24% of students with one behavior incidence passed 75% or more subtests.

  • 26% of students with two or more behavior incidences passed 75% or more subtests.

Want more data? Download the complete 2009-10 fitness assessment brief for Louisiana.