The Presidential Fitness Test will return to high schools by 2028, the White House says. What to know about the change.

President Donald Trump wants to bring the Presidential Fitness Test back to public schools.

For more than four decades, students across the nation were tasked with performing the test's multiple feats of endurance, speed and strength until it was replaced by the Presidential Youth Fitness Program under President Barack Obama.

Trump announced the test's return Thursday as he signed an executive order that will bolster the responsibilities of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. That body will "develop bold and innovative fitness goals for young Americans with the aim of fostering a new generation of healthy, active citizens," and "create school-based programs that reward excellence in physical education," according to a White House news release.

Every high school must implement the change by 2028, a White House official said Friday. It was not clear when it might return to the lower grades. 

What is the Presidential Fitness Test?

The last incarnation of the Presidential Fitness Test consisted of five challenges, including running, situps, pullups or pushups and a sit-and-reach test, according to The Associated Press.

One of the hallmarks of the test was the Presidential Fitness Award for top-performing students, a tradition that will return based on criteria the sports, fitness and nutrition council establishes, according to the White House.

“I remember doing it in high school ... and getting something with Ronald Reagan’s signature on it,” recalled pediatrician Brian Rabinowitz of Pediatric Associates of Plainview.

Why did it go away?

The administration of Lyndon B. Johnson established the Presidential Fitness Test in 1966, and it evolved over the decades, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. 

The test was replaced by the Presidential Youth Fitness Program during the Obama administration to reduce "comparisons between children" while helping them "pursue personal fitness goals for lifelong health," according to a health department webpage.

The program offers educators resources such as health-related assessments, professional development and motivational recognition, according to the federal agency's website. 

“Physical fitness is great, but it is a component of overall wellness," said Hampton Bays schools Superintendent Lars Clemensen, a past president of the New York State Council of School Superintendents. "Physical education is really focused on overall wellness, so that’s physical wellness, social wellness — how you interact with others, teamwork, collaboration, positive peer influence — certainly physical ability and healthy bodies, but healthy minds that go along with that."

Why is the test returning?

The return of the fitness test is part of an effort to address "the widespread epidemic of declining health and physical fitness," as well as "rates of obesity, chronic disease, inactivity and poor nutrition" that have reached "crisis levels, particularly among our children," according to the White House.

What could be the impact on Long Island?

Rabinowitz said he worries the return of the fitness test could stir up “more anxiety among students who want to pass” their physical education class. As part of a more holistic approach to their overall health, he said he encourages his patients to do physical activity after school like walking or bike riding, or even weight lifting for those who enjoy more intense workouts, either by themselves or with their friends.

“I don’t know if there’s really the need to switch it up," Rabinowitz said of reintroducing the Presidential Fitness Test. "I don’t know if there’s any value in going back to the way things were.”

Clemensen hopes that the test's return does not affect the modern-day approach to physical education.

“When kids are mentally well, physically well and can interact with one another, then they’re healthier overall," Clemensen said. "It goes far beyond just physical feats of strength and athleticism. I would hope that you’d see an assessment that captured that entire holistic view for kids.” 

Clemensen said the reinstated fitness test could be viewed like a math or English assessment, provided it is used to gauge and ultimately help improve each student's progress.

However, he noted that unlike a math or English assessment, in the past the fitness test "was done in front of one another."

"If you put everybody out on the line and say ‘Run,’ the kid who is the furthest behind doesn’t feel good about that,” he said. "If the number just compares kids to an immovable standard, or just compares kids to one another, we’re missing the mark."

Tara Nelsen, president of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance's Nassau Zone, said she was pleased that physical education is being highlighted in the news but hoped the test would be “appropriate for everyone, regardless of their abilities.”

She added, "It’s very important that we teach skills to the kids so when they graduate ... they’re able to put a fitness plan together for themselves and stay active."