Students May Not Benefit From Fitness Tests, Study Finds

BOSTON (CBS) - According to a new study from Louisiana State University, school fitness tests may not be a valuable use of a student's time.

Some people believe that fitness tests promote the love of physical activity while others believe they can be off-putting, discouraging kids from exercising. But researchers found they probably do neither.

They looked at 273 middle-schoolers who underwent a fitness assessment and then asked them about their attitudes towards physical education, looking specifically at feelings of anger, enjoyment or boredom.

They found a mixture of responses depending on gender and the specific activities like running, stretching or abdominal curls.

The researchers say fitness testing is often poorly implemented and that perhaps that time could be better spent teaching kids about fitness.