The President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition (PCSFN) is a federal advisory committee that aims to promote "programs and initiatives that motivate people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to lead active, healthy lives." It is part of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, an agency of the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

. Prior to June 2010, it was called the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. The council's work is informed by a Science Board, composed primarily of academic researchers and scholars. The first Science Board was appointed during the George W. Bush administration in 2003 with Charles B. "Chuck" Corbin, Ph.D., Arizona State University, serving as its inaugural chair. In 2016, Corbin received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the PCSFN. The Science Board was active for several years, but eventually went dormant. It was reinstated on June 21, 2019, with strong urging from organizations such as the National Academy of Kinesiology. A newly formed Science Board was announced on January 22, 2020, with Bradley J. Cardinal, Ph.D., Oregon State University, appointed as chair. During their 2-year term, the Science Board established the scientific basis of the National Youth Sports Strategy, including a wide variety of evidence-based documents and reports.

History

During the 1940s, the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...

and the National Committee on Physical Fitness had a joint committee encouraging physical fitness. The President's Council on Youth Fitness was founded on July 16, 1956, to encourage American children. In 1963, President Kennedy changed the council's name to President's Council on Physical Fitness to reflect its role to serve all Americans. In 1966, President Lyndon 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. In 1972, the Presidential Sports Award Program was created. In 1983, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

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 Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

renamed the agency the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, with a new emphasis on nutrition as an element of fitness. First Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

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 The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

quarterback Drew Brees and former Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes. 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. The President's Challenge site displayed a notice that it was down for "Site Maintenance – We're taking a little breather." On January 20, 2012, the site was modified to explain the hacking. 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.

Past chairpersons

* Bud Wilkinson (chairman) 1961–1963 * Stan Musial Consultant 1964–1967 *

Jim Lovell James Arthur Lovell Jr. ( ; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of the fi ...

(chairman) 1969–1977 * Jerry Apodaca (chairman) 1978–1980 * George Allen (chairman) 1981–1988 * Dick Kazmaier (chairman) 1988–1989 *

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

(chairman) 1990–1993 * Florence Griffith Joyner (co-chair) 1993–1998 * Tom McMillen (co-chair) 1993–1997 * Lee Haney (chairman) 1999–2002 * Lynn Swann (chairman) 2002–2005 * Denise Austin 2002–2009 * Drew Brees (co-chair) 2010 * Dominique Dawes (co-chair) 2010 * Lou Ferrigno 2018 * Misty May-Treanor (co-chair) 2019 *

Mariano Rivera Mariano Rivera (born November 29, 1969) is a Panamanian Americans, Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and " ...

(co-chair) 2019 * Herschel Walker (co-chair) 2019-2020 * Jose Andres (co-chair) 2022-2025 The current co-chair of the council is Elena Delle Donne, serving since March 23, 2022.

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. Additionally, there is the Active Lifestyle Award for staying active and the Presidential Champions Award for raising one's amount of activity. The Champions awards ended on 30 June 2018. There is also a Community Leadership Award that is given out annually to 50 people or organizations for encouraging physical activity, fitness, and nutrition.

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: * 50-yard dash * 600-yard run * Standing broad jump * Pull-ups (boys) * Flexed-arm hang (girls) * Sit-ups * Shuttle run * Sit and reach

References

External links