L.A. KIDS MORE FIT THAN MOST.

Byline: David R. Baker Staff Writer

Most students in body-conscious Los Angeles scored better on most physical fitness tests than many of their peers statewide, according to a state report released Thursday.

Their abdominal strength rocked, besting state averages in the grades tested - fifth, seventh and ninth. Their relative lack of body fat ruled.

But their overall health? That's different.

The vast majority of Los Angeles Unified students didn't meet all the standards the state sets for fitness, even though they fared well on individual tests measuring strength and flexibility. While few California students met all the standards, the statewide percentage was still higher than Los Angeles', although possibly because many LAUSD students didn't take all the tests.

State and school district officials offered different explanations for Los Angeles' uneven performance.

But they agreed that students need to put down the mouse or joystick and spend more time on exercise.

``The computer age has grabbed so many of these kids,'' said Steve Franklin, the physical education department chairman at Parkman Middle school in Woodland Hills. ``The hand dexterity is fantastic, but the average kid is not getting out.''

Of course, teen-age America's fitness problem began long before the arrival of the iMac. Studies by the Harvard School of Public Health show that since the 1960s, obesity in 6- to 11-year-olds has increased more than 50 percent, while obesity in 12- to 17-year-olds has increased more than 40 percent.

The scores released Thursday come from physical fitness tests mandated by state law. Each year, children in grades five, seven and nine are checked for their aerobic capacity, body composition, flexibility, abdominal strength, upper-body strength and trunk strength. The results are released every two years.

On most individual tests, students in the Los Angeles Unified School District topped state averages. More than 84 percent of local ninth-graders, for example, met state expectations for abdominal strength, compared with 79.5 percent statewide. And 63.2 percent of LAUSD ninth-graders had adequately buff upper bodies, compared to 60.5 throughout California.

But only 12.2 percent of local ninth-graders passed all six tests. The statewide figure for ninth-graders stood at 19.4 percent.

``The picture we see is not what we hoped it would be,'' said Delaine Eastin, state superintendent of public instruction.

Los Angeles school officials also noted that not all of the district's students took all of the tests. In grade five, for example, 5,373 more children took the body composition test than the upper body strength exam.

``You can't do them all in one day, so if you've got a large group of kids rotating through, you may not finish them all,'' said testing coordinator Paula Moseley.

Les Axelrod, a research and evaluation consultant for the state education department, said Los Angeles Unified's overall scores could reflect students who have mastered one kind of exercise, but not another.

``You could have good aerobic capacity, but you may not have good upper body strength,'' he said. ``Overall, the kids aren't doing too bad, but we only consider a kid to be fit if it's six out of six.''

But while Moseley was encouraged by Los Angeles' showing on individual tests, Moseley echoed Franklin's concern.

Too many young people have devolved into Internet potatoes, she said. Parents need to make sure their children get involved in some kind of after-school or weekend exercise, even if it isn't the traditional baseball or soccer league. Gym class alone won't do it.

``We have students who need to go outside, play, ride bicycles and run,'' Moseley said.

CAPTION(S):

photo, chart

Photo: (color) Parkman Middle School students go through their daily exercise routine. State fitness test scores released Thursday show that L.A. area students are more fit than other California kids.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer

Chart: Fitness

1999 California Physical Fitness District Report