San Francisco Chronicle-
Concerned the state’s physical fitness test leads to body-shaming, bullying and discrimination, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a three-year pause on the assessment to study it and consider alternatives.
Schools across California have used the Fitnessgram since 1996 to determine how fit students are using six criteria, including aerobic ability, body mass and flexibility, as well as abdominal, trunk and upper body strength.
Newsom included the three-year break in fitness testing as a trailer bill to his budget proposal, raising specific concerns about the portion of the test related to body mass index, a measure of body fat based on height and weight, that’s different for boys and girls. Though there are different standards of fitness for boys and girls in all the categories.
