Less than one-third of Texas third-graders passed all six parts of a new physical fitness assessment that debuted statewide this year and older students fared much worse, according to results released today. About 21 percent of female seventh-graders and 17 percent of male seventh-graders reached healthy standards in all six zones.

By the senior year of high school, just 8 percent of females and 9 percent of males reached those targets. “These results just confirmed what many of us already know and that is our children’s health is in jeopardy,” said Sen Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound. “We cannot allow an entire generation of Texans grow up and live a shorter life than previous generations.” About 2.8 million of Texas’ third- through 12th-graders took the test, which measures stamina, strength, flexibility and body composition. Students’ targeted healthy zones vary depending on gender and age. To be considered fit, for example, a 10-year-old boy must be able to run a mile in 11 minutes, 30 seconds and do 12 curl-ups, nine trunk-lifts, seven push-ups and a eight-inch sit-and-reach. Texas is spending about $2 million to implement the new testing program, which was designed by The Cooper Institute in Dallas. They plan to use the results to see if physically fit children perform better on academic exams, are absent from school less and cause fewer disciplinary problems.

This is just pitiful. The standards on these tests are very low, and yet these kids still fail. Looks like we will be taking care of these kids in our old age.