Choosing a Fitness Test Battery for an After-School Program

Keep and adapt

• Push-ups: keep, but use a cadence (for example, one rep every 3 seconds), a modified incline option, and a stopping rule for form breakdown rather than 'to failure.'
• Flexibility: replace sit-and-reach with a back-saver sit-and-reach or shoulder stretch; the classic version is less back-friendly and adds little.

Replace

• 1-mile run: 8-year-olds pace poorly, the hallway is too short, and a maximal run outdoors in heat adds risk for little added information. Use the 20 m multistage shuttle (PACER) in the gym or hallway, or a 400 m walk/run with a comfortable-pace instruction.

Drop

• Skinfolds: require trained, consistent testers, raise privacy and body-image issues with young children, and the parent's question can be answered more sensitively.

Add

• A simple movement screen (overhead squat, single-leg balance, hop and stick) because fundamental movement competence is the most actionable target at this age.
• Height, weight, and BMI calculated privately, never announced.

Logistics Five stations, 10–12 children per station, rotating every 6 minutes. Use health-related criterion standards, not adult norms or class rankings.

Asthma

• Confirm the written action plan and that the inhaler is on site; the child should pre-treat as prescribed before the session.
• Ensure a thorough warm-up and avoid sudden maximal efforts, especially in cold or dry air.
• Stop testing for cough, wheeze, chest tightness, or unusual breathlessness, and follow the action plan.
• Do not test on a day with a recent flare or respiratory infection. Document the modification.

Wheelchair user

• The goal is participation and individualized tracking, not comparison to ambulatory norms.
• Select adapted items: seated medicine-ball throw for upper-body power, grip strength, a timed 20 m wheelchair push for speed, shoulder and trunk flexibility, and a submaximal arm-cranking or pushing endurance task if equipment allows.
• Allow the child and family to choose which items feel meaningful.
• Use person-first language in all records and reports.

Program level Both children should be tested in the same station format as peers, with modifications recorded on the same score sheet. The assistant supervises the adapted station so the main tester can keep the rotation moving. If a safe adaptation is not available, skip the item and note why - no child should sit out the whole session.

Format

• Individual, confidential reports; no class leaderboards and no posted results.
• Present each score against a health-related criterion band (for example, 'in the healthy fitness zone') plus the child's own change from baseline.
• Explain measurement error: a small change may be noise, especially in a 12-week block, and one test day is a snapshot.

Language

• Avoid 'overweight,' 'obese,' and 'unfit' as labels for a child. If BMI is reported, describe it as one screening measure that does not capture fitness, skill, or behavior, and recommend a conversation with a healthcare provider rather than a diagnosis.
• Emphasize behaviors the family can act on: active play, sleep, variety of movement, and enjoyment.

To the director

• Give aggregated, de-identified data: percentage meeting the aerobic criterion, percentage improving, participation rate.
• Explain why public posting was declined: comparison increases embarrassment, reduces participation among lower-scoring children, and does not improve fitness.
• Offer a parent information session and a simple home activity handout instead of ranking lists.