The Presidential Fitness Test is coming back.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday afternoon reinstating the national fitness assessment implemented in public schools from 1956 until 2013.
The role of administering the test will fall to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been vocal in his concern about childhood obesity and whose “Make America Healthy Again” report in February attributed the issue, in part, to sedentary lifestyles.
A White House official told NBC News that Trump aims to address Americans’ declining health and physical fitness, including “crisis levels” of obesity, chronic disease, inactivity and poor nutrition.
“President Trump wants every young American to have the opportunity to emphasize healthy, active lifestyles — creating a culture of strength and excellence for years to come," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
The original Presidential Fitness Test was established under the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s and underwent several iterations in the decades to come. Students were generally asked to perform some combination of push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, running and reaching for their toes while seated. Starting in the 1960s, those with the highest fitness scores were eligible to receive a Presidential Physical Fitness Award.
The Obama administration replaced the fitness test after the 2012-13 school year with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, which focused more on individual health than athletic prowess.
Trump’s executive order Thursday tasks the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition with developing criteria for a new Presidential Fitness Award and creating school programs that reward excellence in physical education.
Kennedy said Thursday that the Presidential Fitness Award was “a huge item of pride when I was growing up,” adding that “we need to re-instill that spirit of competition and that commitment to nutrition and physical fitness.”
The executive order also instructs the council to partner with athletes and sports organizations. The council’s chair, professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau, was at the signing Thursday afternoon. Several other professional athletes also attended, including Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor and Swedish professional golfer Annika Sorenstam.
“This council will play an important role in shaping these new policies and ensuring that we preserve the American athletic tradition for many generations to come,” Trump said. “And in the years ahead we’ll have the chance to showcase our nation’s athletic dominance on the world stage.”
