Fitness Tests Show West County Kids Lag Peers Statewide

by Alex Gronke 

Four out of 10 fifth graders in the West Contra Costa Unified School District were overweight last school year, according to test results released Wednesday by the state Department of Education. 

Statewide, one out of three fifth graders who took the physical fitness test were placed in the "needs improvement" category for the body composition portion of the assessment. 

The annual test measures physical fitness in six categories: aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength, trunk extensor strength, upper body strength, and flexibility. 

Twenty six percent of the state's fifth graders, 32 percent of seventh graders and 37 percent of ninth graders scored in the "Healthy Fitness Zone" for all six areas, according to a press release from the California Department of Education. 

In WCCUSD, 15 percent of fifth graders, 20 percent of seventh graders and 22 percent of ninth graders scored in the "Healthy Fitness Zone" for all six areas.