Youth Physical Fitness

[Music] hi i'm gene kelly i just got through taking a workout i i do this not only because i like it it makes me feel better but also because it helps me meet the demands of my work in my job you have to keep in shape it's part of my profession dancers like athletes have to do this to show you what i mean suppose we take a quick trip to the world of athletic performance a look at first-rate physical activity here's an outfielder catching a ball and firing it down to home plate you've got to be in trim to do that look at that pool vaulter perfect timing coordination balance and muscle tone [Music] high diving where practice precision and body control mean everything [Music] fencing a beautiful sport demanding balance alerts and a high-developed sense of accuracy [Music] football there with what appears to be the greatest of these what we've been watching is a cross-section of that marvelous fraternity and the sorority of highly trained specialists who devote most of their waking hours to perfecting themselves in competitive sports while thousands cheer but to be perfectly frank about it we aren't concerned here with those few strenuous perfectionists they're doing fine what we are interested in is the thousands who sit and cheer the spectators here and there are overweight spectators lots of young spectators a stadium full of males and females who admire and encourage physical fitness but who depend on modern conveniences to do their physical chores for them meanwhile these push button athletes sit in front of the television set or in the bleachers it was with this problem in mind that president kennedy appointed charles budd wilkinson football coach of the university of oklahoma as a special consultant on youth fitness this is where the school physical fitness program begins with the youngest child of school age it continues through the highest grades these children necessarily spend a large amount of their time in school sitting most of them rode to school this morning they will ride back home in addition to their academic work they need a planned program of physical activity every day that they are in school yet about one half the schools throughout the country do not provide such an opportunity many parents are amazed when i cite that figure most parents assume i think that their children get enough exercise at school just as the natural play habits of their children at home will give them sufficient exercise there is top heavy evidence to show that many youngsters do not get sufficient exercise either at school or at home how about your children in your home your schools your community if your community is typical of the nation you are probably doing a good job for the 10 who need it the least the athletically gifted but what about the other 90 president kennedy whom you will hear from later has urged all schools to strengthen programs which contribute to the physical fitness of all boys and girls heeding the president's call for action the president's council on youth fitness in consultation with 19 leading organizations in the fields of education and medicine developed suggested elements of a school-centered program we make these recommendations for schools to use in whatever way they think best we feel that the concepts are vitally important not necessarily the details the concepts should apply to all schools when a community becomes concerned about the physical development of its children it can easily and inexpensively adopt these principles to their local situation here's what happened in one town muskogee oklahoma us kogi makes one point of a triangle with tulsa and oklahoma city principal industries chemicals glass cotton and producing football players yes muskogees turned out eight of the 44 all-americans at the university of oklahoma here is the muskogee board of education these people knew bud wilkinson personally they wanted to know more about this fitness program they've been reading about bill hayes joe adair and superintendent of school harry simmons decided to ask bud about it they told him they wanted muskogee to be a pilot program for the president's council but liked the idea of working with muskobe a town he knew reflected the needs and interests of most of the united states next the board of education discuss the program with alf stanfill principal of the edison school they only needed one thing stanford said it wasn't money it wasn't equipment it was public support we don't have a trained personnel but we think that we can do and do a real fine job if we follow this suggested plan although you stanford got the support of every pta group and every civic club in town the townspeople not only said they wanted it they pitched in to make it work that's warren weakland sports editor the muskogee daily phoenix and radio got behind the program too you're in tune to kmus radio in muskogee oklahoma president kennedy's pioneer physical fitness city of the united states dr virgil matthews is on the board of education he and 40 other doctors in muskogee gave medical exams to every school child in the city to determine if there were any children who could not participate in the program dr albert bonnell a dentist who is also in the school board got the dentist to give checkups that was the first step the second step was to give every child a test for strength flexibility and agility jack hoops ought to be able to do at least one pull-up the pull-up is only one of three simple tests for all age groups both boys and girls to the surprise and shock of muskogee citizens over 47 percent of their school children failed to pass muskogee went to work the principals juggled their schedule to provide 15 minutes of daily vigorous activity for everyone everyone meant the more than 10 000 children in muskogee schools [Music] push up now every morning ten times [Music] [Music] struggle up to your feet [Music] [Music] [Music] next we're gonna do backward circles ready ready circle round round [Music] [Music] jump to stride known as the jumping jack far and wide all right are you ready [Music] three more is all we do [Applause] within six weeks jack like others of his classmates was given the same screening test again improvement was visible in all three areas strength flexibility and agility while the fourth graders on up were improving themselves developmental activities were being conducted clear down to the primary grades [Music] the tortoise in the hair looks more like a game than an exercise running the simplest of all exercises is one of the most beneficial here are trees in the wind and the rabbit race since women constitute half the population we mustn't overlook the girls but wilkinson feels their needs for exercise and physical fitness are just as acute as the needs of the boys the girls can do just about everything the boys do in fundamental exercises except for the variation on the push-up demonstrated here [Music] once the fundamental exercises are accomplished there are many more variations that can be gradually added here's a graceful one particularly appealing to girls the one foot balance progress in physical fitness is made in many ways here are some of the activities at the alice robertson junior high school vigorous fun and everybody in the act [Music] come on oh [Music] sports rhythmics activities that carry over into recreation hours throughout life [Music] over at central high school the 1600 pupils voluntarily gave up part of their lunch period so that they too could participate in the fitness program one two one three one four one five one six one seven one [Music] okay [Music] remember that 47 that failed the test well six weeks later 74 could pass and that figure is bound to increase with the increasing interest that teachers parents and children have shown in the program you're doing okay oklahoma the muskogee school system has made dramatic progress in developing the physical fitness of its young people in addition to what you have seen muskogee has given a seven item test to physical achievement to all pupils this test measures progress with it a child can set his own goals see his own improvement the test was developed through a national study by the american association of health physical education and recreation if you don't have your own comprehensive local or state test we urge the use of this test as part of yourself fitness program we are very pleased that muskogee found our recommendations for a basic program to be helpful the expenditures on equipment were nominal the facilities are not fancy the regular teaching staff 207 teachers conducted the program working together with their administrators to improve the physical fitness of their children most important of all the interest and support shown by the community spurred them on we truly believe that almost any town in america can do what muskogee did if the people recognize the school's responsibility for physical development in addition to intellectual development such a program of course is basic we might even say a bare minimum if the full educational needs of the pupil are to be met we must go beyond the minimum to a broader program of health education and physical education while emphasizing physical fitness our blue book suggests standards and curriculum emphasis which were developed by the profession and which constitute a comprehensive program we urge all school systems to strive continually to develop a high quality health and physical education program is an integral part of the school curriculum now i'd like you to see something of a program of this kind has developed over a number of years in kansas city missouri the equipment at kansas city's whittier school is well selected to provide total exercise for all the pupils [Music] [Music] aldrich director of all elementary physical education for kansas city school hold him safety get a hold of his hand let's go fella you're up too high nice one come on flatten it out nice down easy so we don't hear your feet touch very nice she and a professional staff lead a program that teaches these children to keep fit and active throughout life all right lock your thumb give it a good swing now the parachutes remember head up [Music] me [Music] you know the better you play a game or perform a stunt the more vigorous it becomes and the more [Music] kansas city schools have full health appraisals of all their youngsters could you hear that one and you are what you're in school any serious illnesses or accidents during the summer all right now let's sit down let's check the pupils learn the scientific reasons behind such important health matters is keeping free of disease eating the proper foods getting sufficient exercise and other aspects of helpful living and what is even more important they are encouraged to put their health knowledge into practice we are testing foods such as cheese lean meat sugar and ate cooked egg whites to see if they have protein in them if they have protein in them they will smell like burnt feathers we'll test these foods to see if they have sausages in them we take a drop of iodine and one half teaspoon of food and put it in a test tube and then fill the test tube have more water and if it turns black [Music] facilities such as those at southeast high school make possible a broad program of instruction as well as intramural and extramural sports and interscholastic activities they serve two for school community recreation programs so [Music] so [Music] [Music] swimming is an excellent all-around sport the people of kansas city consider this pool to be a sound investment the whole community enjoys excuse [Music] the people of kansas city are justifiably proud of their schools there are of course other fine programs of health education and physical education spotted throughout the nation section particular climate but they all have one thing in common citizens and parents who care they know as we all know that our children need a balanced educational program that fosters full development physical social and intellectual they also realize that children and adults alike must use their free time constructively to preserve the well-being of our country thus physical fitness in and of itself is not the only beneficial result of this program to attain and maintain fitness requires self-discipline in achieving self-discipline children gain a very important personal attribute that carries over into later life this quality self-discipline is the foundation of our democracy president kennedy is extremely concerned about the physical fitness of our people and he has taken a continued personal interest in this whole program ladies and gentlemen the president of the united states i welcome this opportunity to speak to the people of america about a subject which i believe to be most important and that is the subject physical fitness and i speak not only as president of the united states of two children who i hope will grow up with those qualities of vigor and energy which uh we identify with the best of america this should be a matter of concern to us all a country uh is as strong really as its citizens and i think that mental and health and physical vigor go hand in hand i hope that we will not find a day in the united states when all of us are spectators except for a few who are out on the field i hope all americans will be on the field they will concern themselves with the education of their children with the physical development of their children with the participation in the vigorous life and then also as their children get older inculcate into them a desire to maintain that vigor through their normal life our citizens are living longer we want them to participate fully in that longer life but they can only do so if they give some of their time and some of their effort to maintaining that vitality this is a subject which should be of interest to us all and i hope when we have seen the astonishing results which we have seen from our work in a few schools across the country where we've been able in the short space of two and three months to change the physical habits and strength of our children that this will spread to every school district in the united states that all of us will participate in the life around us and in so doing we'll be better citizens and happier ones this is a challenge for us all children boys and girls college students mothers and fathers and all of us i think should welcome it i hope all of you will join in a great national effort to build a strong and better america through physical effort and through the contributions we can make by the drive and force we bring to our daily lives thank you suppose you take a good look at your schools don't judge by the varsity program alone what kind of shape is that other 90 percent of the student body in do they have a daily physical education period do they have a program of health appraisal and instruction do they have a physical achievement testing program that motivates the students and measures their progress if your school has already adopted these fundamentals they deserve your active and continuing support but if they haven't there's something you can do about it as parents as school officials and citizens of the community the time to act is now through your pta and other groups your school board your school administrator it's up to you to make sure your schools do not neglect the physical development of the nation's youth [Music] ready [Music] everybody [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] dismissed