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President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that restored the president’s fitness test and president’s advice for sports, fitness and nutrition for American schoolchildren.
The origin of the president’s fitness test dates back to the 1950s under President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration. Eisenhower established the President’s Council for Youth Fitness in 1956, when Americans feared their physical strength was subparn compared to Europeans.
President John F. Kennedy was based on this idea in 1960 when he published a column in Sports Illustrated before joining. The title of the play was called “the soft American.” In the play, Kennedy complained that there was a “ever -increasing number of young Americans who neglect their bodies – whose physical fitness is not what it should be – which becomes soft. And such softness from the individual citizens can help strip and destroy a country’s vitality.”
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President Donald Trump hand over a pen to professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau, after Trump signed an executive order that restarted the president’s fitness test in public schools as Education Secretary Linda McMahon, from the Left, State Secretary of State Scott Bessent, Trade Secretary Howard Lutnick and Vice President JD July 31, 2025, in Roose -Toom of the White I Wide in Washing Washing. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“For the physical strength of our citizens is one of America’s most precious resources. If we waste and neglect this resource, if we allow it to subside and grow soft, we will destroy much of our ability to meet the major and vital challenges that confront our people. We will not be able to realize our full potential as a nation,” he added. “
In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration formed the physical fitness award program. Children were put to the test and had to perform situps, pullups or pushups and a sit-and-rachet test. The program recognizes those who were in the 85th percentile or better.
A 1-Mil’s race and shuttle race were also added over the years when presidents after Johnson would think of the test.
Over the years, the presidential fitness test against criticism for a size that fits all approaches and fails to account for individual strength and physical makeup.
The president’s fitness test lasted throughout the 2012-13 school year, when President Barack Obama withdrew it in favor of the president’s youth fitness program. The president’s fitness test was replaced by Fitness Gram, which took a holistic approach to student wellness.
The program moved away from “recognizing athletic performance to give a barometer on Student’s Health”, according to a profile on the Health.Gov website.
“The Presidential Youth Fitness Program Places Emphasis on the Value of Living a Physically Active and Healthy Lifestyle – In School and Beyond. The Program Minimizes Comparisons Between Children and Instead Supports Students As They Pursue Personal Fitness Geals for Lifelong. Gain Access to a Robust Selection of Resources To Promote Lifelong Physical Activity-Web-Based Access to Test Protocol, Standards for Testing, Calculators for Aerobic Capacity and Body Composition, Promotion of Pala+, Online Training, School Recognition Programs And More.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Speaking during an event in which President Donald Trump will sign a executive order that restarts the president’s fitness test in public schools, on Thursday, July 31, 2025, in the Roosevelt room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
On Thursday, Trump ordered the President’s Council for Sport, Fitness and Nutrition to execute ways to remedy the obesity crisis among children in American life -golf star Bryson DeChambeau was tapped to lead the council.
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The executive order said the council should recommend the following:
- (i) Strategies for reintroducing the president’s fitness test with any appropriate improvements as the main assessment tool for a President Fitness Award;
- (ii) Strategies for the development and promotion of presidential assessments and school -based programs that reward expertise in physical training;
- (iii) Actions to expand the opportunities at the global, national, state and local level of participation in sports and commitment to physical fitness;
- (iv) bold and innovative fitness targets for American youth with the aim of promoting a new generation of healthy, active citizens;
- (v) campaigns and events raising American sports, military readiness and health traditions;
- (vi) Opportunities at the global, national, state and local level that expand participation in sports and emphasize the importance of an active lifestyle and good nutrition, which should include partnerships with professional athletes, sports organizations, the player’s associations, influential figures, nonprofit organizations and community groups to inspire all Americans, among other initials; and
- (VII) Strategies to tackle the growing national security threat, such as the rising rates of obesity, chronic illnesses and sedentary lifestyle that threaten the future emergency preparedness to the US workforce and military.
The executive order will order the council to set up “school -based programs that reward expertise in physical training and develop criteria for a Presidential Prize.”
“It’s a wonderful tradition and we bring it back,” Trump said.
Dechambeau is chairman of the council. Trump mentioned San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa, Philadelphia Eagles, running back Saquon Barkley and Miami Dolphins Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will also be in the council.
President Donald Trump stops a signed executive order that restarts the president’s fitness test in public schools as trade secretary Howard Lutnick, from left, professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau, WWE CCO TRIPLE H and Health and Human Service Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Watch, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in the Roosevelt room in the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“We have an opportunity to be the 70th anniversary of the President’s Council for Sport, Fitness & Nutrition, to literally change the drug in children’s lives,” Defchambeau said. “Our first initiative is to bring back and reign the president’s fitness testing and also restore some key direction lines for the construction of society.”
