State public health officials tout Fitnessgram data, cite post‑COVID declines and a July 2024 funding commitment
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Summary
Department of Public Health staff told the committee that the SC Fitnessgram statewide data system expanded participation to 91% of districts, tracked declines in student fitness after COVID and received recurring funding in July 2024 to sustain data collection and support.
Department of Public Health staff briefed the Joint Citizens and Legislative Committee on Children about 10 years of SC Fitnessgram work, statewide participation growth and recommendations to use the data to improve school and community supports for student health.
Brianna Muelling, the SC Fitnessgram coordinator, said the system grew from about 71% participation to 91% of school districts over the last decade and has tested more than 751,000 students. She told the committee that the program provided data used to link physical fitness and academic outcomes and that the University of South Carolina helped lead data collection and analysis.
“Without consistent statewide data, we wouldn’t have known where students’ fitness were before the pandemic, how that impacted their fitness during the pandemic, and where our focus efforts could be today,” Muelling said.
Presenters summarized pandemic impacts: pre‑COVID, roughly 65% of students were in the healthy fitness zone for healthy weight and heart/lung fitness; post‑COVID those figures fell (healthy weight to about 59%; heart/lung fitness to about 51%). Department staff said 2024–25 data are under review and preliminary figures show partial recovery (about 63% healthy weight and 43% heart/lung fitness in the most recent school year data they reported to the committee).
Erica Ayers (school wellness consultant) described the department’s influencer‑district model and professional development: 88 professional development sessions reached about 4,200 participants (reported as 82% of districts). The presenters said a July 2024 recurring appropriation from the South Carolina legislature will support ongoing maintenance, data use, and statewide technical assistance.
Recommendations to the committee included continuing Fitnessgram administration in schools, providing fitnessgram scores to relevant Department of Education associates to target professional learning, adding physical‑literacy measures, and publishing easy‑to‑understand school‑level fitness results to inform local decision‑making.
The committee asked about cross‑agency uses of the data; staff said they work with school nutrition and local wellness policy teams to integrate findings with food service and community health coalitions.
Next steps: presenters will continue to finalize 2024–25 data, provide the committee with implementation examples from influencer districts, and expand communication tools for districts to share successes and needs.
