Suffolk County has a childhood obesity problem. The County is far from alone with childhood obesity on the rise across the state and country.
This past week, President Trump signed an Executive Order bringing the Presidential Fitness Test back to public schools nationwide. The test began 1956 under President Eisenhower and was ended by President Barack Obama in 2013.
The Fitness Test was a long-standing presence in American schools. Adults from across the country remember the pull up, bar hang, push-ups, shuttle run, and the sit-n-reach flexibility challenge. It was a way to take a broad measure at the health and fitness of America’s children.
Today, with kids more sedentary than ever before and their heads buried in screens and video games, obesity and obesity-related disease is on the rise in America’s youth. America’s kids are not fit and healthy – it’s as simple as that.
In Suffolk County, New York, approximately 19.9% of students have a BMI indicating obesity, according to the New York State department of Health. This data is based on reports submitted to the State Health Department during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years. Nearly 30% of all Suffolk County residents are considered obese with 34% more overweight.
“Getting the kids off the couch and away from the screens is a great idea,” said Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano in response to news of President Trump rebooting the Presidential Fitness Test. “I appreciate the president setting a standard for psychical fitness in America.”
Suffolk county towns with the highest obesity rates are: Wyandanch (40.2%), North Amityville (36.6%), Flanders (36.6%), North Bellport (36.2%), and Gordon heights (36.1).
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be responsible for rolling the Fitness Test back into the schools and it will be a key part of the ‘Making America Healthy Again’ agenda.
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.”
These childhood issues with fitness follow the kids into young adulthood. A study from the Pentagon shows that 77% of young Americans would not qualify for military service without a waiver due to being overweight, using drugs or having mental and physical health problems.
The most common reasons for disqualification are overweight (11%), drug and alcohol abuse (8%), and medical/physical health (7%).
Outside New York City, rates of obesity among children in public school districts have increased 11% since the COVID-19 pandemic. The State Health Department estimates that during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years 19.4% of elementary students and 21.4% of middle and high school students state-wide have a BMI placing them in the obesity weight status category.
The original Presidential Fitness Test was established under the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s and underwent several iterations in the decades to come. Starting in the 1960s, those with the highest fitness scores were eligible to receive a Presidential Physical Fitness Award.