President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition

The President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition (PCSFN) is an American government organization that aims to "promote, encourage and motivate Americans of all ages to become physically active and participate in sports". It is part of the Office of Public Health and Science, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to June 2010, it was called the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

President's Council logo

History

During the 1940s, the American Medical Association and the National Committee on Physical Fitness had a joint committee encouraging physical fitness.[1]

The President's Council on Youth Fitness was founded on July 16, 1956, to encourage American children.[2]

In 1963, President Kennedy changed the council's name to President's Council on Physical Fitness to reflect its role to serve all Americans.[2]

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson created the Presidential Physical Fitness Award, the name of which was later changed to President's Challenge Youth Physical Fitness Awards Program. In 1968, the council's name was changed to President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports to emphasize the importance of sports in life.[3]

In 1972, the Presidential Sports Award Program was created.

In 1983, the United States Congress declared May as National Physical Fitness and Sports Month.

In 1996, the Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health was released. In 1997, the Council released its report on Physical Activity and Sport in the Lives of Boys.

In June 2010, President Barack Obama renamed the agency the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, with a new emphasis on nutrition as an element of fitness.[4] First Lady Michelle Obama announced the new commission's goal "to end the epidemic of childhood obesity in a generation" and also announced that the president had named, as the new co-chairs of the council, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and former Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes.[5][6]

On January 11, 2012, operators of the website for participants of the Challenge and Active Lifestyle programs learned that the site had been hacked, resulting in the release of personal information of the participants.[7] The President's Challenge site displayed a notice that it was down for "Site Maintenance – We're taking a little breather."[8] On January 20, 2012, the site was modified to explain the hacking.[9] On January 27, 2012, The President's Challenge sent out emails to its participants saying that the website was functional as of January 24, 2012, and asked participants to reset their user passwords.[10][11]

Past Chairmen
George Allen served as chairman from 1981 to 1988.

Awards

The Council publishes guidelines for awards that are given out. They are the Presidential Physical Fitness Award, the National Physical Fitness Award, and the Participant Physical Fitness Award. However, it has been announced that the Physical Fitness Test on which these awards are based will no longer be available after the 2012–2013 school year.[16] Additionally, there is the Active Lifestyle Award for staying active[17] and the Presidential Champions Award for raising one's amount of activity.[18] The Champions awards ended on 30 June 2018.[19]

Standardized tests

The award was given to students who achieved the top fifteenth percentile cumulative scores across these events and were based on age/gender and were taken by all participants. Pull ups/flexed-arm hang was based on gender and was the only event where one was done by boys and the other by girls:[20]

See also

References
  1. Journal of Health and Physical Education. 1944 p. 500, Archived at Google Books.
  2. "The Federal Government Takes on Physical Fitness". JFK Presidential Library and Museum. JFK library.org. August 2018.
  3. Maldonado, Jim (June 2, 1968). "Recreation Centers Needed in Cities". The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. B2. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  4. Executive Order – President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition Archived 2010-06-26 at the Wayback Machine, White House press release, June 23, 2010.
  5. "Michelle Obama jumps rope, emphasizes nutrition", USA Today, June 24, 2010.
  6. "First Lady Launches President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition" Archived 2010-06-26 at the Wayback Machine, White House press release, June 23, 2010.
  7. Tau, Bryon (January 19, 2012). "Let's Move-affiliated website hacked". Politico. Politico.com. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
  8. "Site Maintenance". The President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
  9. "We apologize for the site maintenance. We will be back up soon". The President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  10. Important Security Information
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-05-13. Retrieved 2012-05-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition (20 July 2012). "Our History". HHS.gov.
  13. Oldenburg, Ann (June 24, 2010). "Michelle Obama jumps rope, emphasizes nutrition". USATODAY.COM. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  14. "First Lady Launches President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition" Archived June 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, White House press release, June 23, 2010.
  15. "Meet the Council". HHS. HHS.gov. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  16. "Physical Fitness Awards". Archived from the original on 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  17. Active Lifestyle Award Archived 2013-04-23 at the Wayback Machine
  18. Presidential Champions Aware Archived 2013-04-23 at the Wayback Machine
  19. "SuperTracker Discontinued June 30, 2018". Choose MyPlate. 3 April 2015.
  20. "50 year anniversary booklet" (PDF). www.hhs.gov. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
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