| Although California mandates annual FitnessGram physical fitness assessment of students in grades 5, 7 and 9, no comparable data exist for children in grades K-4. To better track the origins of childhood obesity, BMI was obtained from 554 southern California children in grades K-3 and the percent (%) classified "Above the BMI Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ)" determined. The percentages classified Above the BMI HFZ in K-3 were 3.3, 7.5, 12.2, and 20.8. For males, the percentages were 1.4, 9.9, 17.5, and 23.8, and for females, 5.9, 5.3, 5.1, and 16.9. For Whites, the percentages were 0, 2.3, 10.7, and 11.9, and for Hispanics 6.8, 15.2, 12.5, and 38.6. For children with subsidized meals, the percentages were 5.3, 14, 18.5, and 34.4, and for children without subsidized meals 2.4, 4.2, 8.2, and 11.4. These findings highlight the need to assess predictors of childhood obesity prior to the state mandated assessment in fifth grade. |
