A Fitness Performance Test for School Children and its Correlation with Physical Working Capacity and Maximal Oxygen Uptake

The Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation fitness test (CAHPER test) composed of six items was compared to two laboratory tests of endurance fitness, physical working capacity at a minute pulse rate of 170 (PWC₁₇₀) and maximum oxygen uptake (Vo₂ max.) in over 500 Winnipeg school children of both sexes aged 6 to 17 years. CAHPER test results were similar to the national average published by CAHPER in a test booklet. Correlation coefficients (r) of Vo₂ max. for boys with the CAHPER tests were: sit-ups .42, broad jump .69, shuttle run .50, arm hang .43, 50-yard dash .60, 300-yard run .65; for girls the r values were about half the values for the boys. Much of the correlation between CAHPER tests and Vo₂ max. or PWC₁₇₀ depended on the association of each test with body size. When multiple correlations were obtained including surface area as the first variable, the only significant factor correlating with the endurance tests was the arm hang; none of the other tests showed a significant correlation. “Physical fitness” is task-specific, so that a subject''s position in the scoring scale of a fitness test depends entirely upon the test. The CAHPER test for physical fitness shows little or no correlation with standard laboratory measures of endurance in average children.