July 8, 1962 - President Kennedy urged the nation’s school administrators today to adopt effective programs of physical fitness before the start of the 1962-63 school year. Citing a report submitted to him on June 21 by his Council on Youth Fitness, the President said: “At best, 25% of our 40 million schoolchildren cannot pass even a simple screening test of physical performance.” Furthermore, the President said, “at least 60% of the nation’s schoolchildren “do not participate in a daily program of vigorous physical activity.” The President called these statistics “shocking” and “frightening.”
