Background/Purpose: Children are overweight and obese (Ogden et al., 2008) and therefore fitness education is important. While knowledge alone cannot change behaviors (Ennis, 2007; Placek et al., 2001), developing mastery of fitness knowledge might be the first step to the establishment of healthy physical activity behaviors (Keating, 2003), yet this area needs improvement in the physical education setting (Kulinna, 2004). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the content of state standards documents to identify information most relevant for secondary students.
Method: Similar to the middle school analysis the largest amount of content to analyze was in the final grade of this level, twelfth (44 states), followed by grade nine (8 states), ten (6 states) and eleven (2 states).
Analysis/Results: Documents were coded using both open and axial strategies. Guided by the theory of change, frequency counts were determined, peer debriefing sessions occurred, and common themes produced. Themes included but are not limited to: (a) Knowledge FITTs, (b) Respect goes a long way, and (c) It's not your fault if you're unfit. Among 44 states, 93% recognized fitness knowledge, representing one fourth of the content that was coded. Planning for physical activity and respecting differences was represented across 75% of the states.
Conclusions: The majority of the concepts found at the secondary level involved designing, implementing, and assessing personal fitness plans. These findings warrant further research of fitness knowledge and its relation to physical activity participation.
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