In July 2025, an executive order renewed national focus on youth physical activity by reestablishing the Presidential Fitness Test; however, implementation was left up to existing state policy systems. Because effective school-based fitness testing depends on a strong physical education infrastructure, which is often inconsistent or lacking, a recent study examined whether current state policies are sufficient to support large-scale implementation.
Researchers conducted a cross-sectional policy analysis of all 50 US states using publicly available legal and education data to assess each state’s readiness for implementing large-scale fitness testing. The study showed readiness varied across states, and overall, states are not currently prepared for standardized large-scale implementation. While most states have basic physical education standards and qualified teachers, few meet recommended physical education time, require fitness testing, or enforce reporting and oversight, indicating an overall weak infrastructure for consistent national implementation
Improving national youth school-based fitness testing and its public health impact requires state-level policy reform to expand access to physical education, establish consistent fitness testing and reporting mandates, and integrate data into public health surveillance systems. Study results were published in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s journal, Preventing Chronic Disease. The study was conducted by Chad Killian from the University of New Hampshire, Emily D’Agostino and Christina Kim from the Duke University School of Medicine, Ben Kern, Devon King, and Shanna Albeke from the University of Wyoming, and Hannah Thompson from the Nutrition Policy Institute.