Highlights of Conference Findings The points listed below form a capsule report of the conclusions reached by the conferees. The Conference recommended that: 1. The need for youth fitness ACTION be strongly endorsed. 2. Primary attention be given to encouraging parents to assume a major share of the responsibility for developing fitness in the family and community. 3. The President's Council on Youth Fitness be continued as a function of the executive branch of the Federal Government in its present form with adequate financial support. 4. The Council and Advisory Committee continue to seek the cooperation of established organizations, both private and public, that have experience in the fields of youth fitness. 5. Strong emphasis be placed on balanced programs of fitness for the development of the whole individual. 6. Organizations of all types at National, State, and local levels be encouraged to adopt the theme of youth fitness in their conferences and conventions. 7. All levels of government be urged to encourage the use of land and facilities under their control for youth fitness endeavors by responsible groups and organizations. 8. Governors and mayors be urged to call conferences on youth fitness. 9. The establishment of youth fitness committees in communities be given a high priority for action. 10. Every community inventory its resources for youth fitness and plan effective action programs. 11. Recognition be given to the fact that proper youth fitness goals cannot be achieved without adequate professional guidance. 12. Schools make a greater contribution to the fitness of youth by developing and strengthening their programs. 13. Communities emphasize to school boards and trustees the need for designating the schools as COMMUNITY SCHOOLS, thus giving the community a responsibility for planning and utilizing school facilities. 14. Young people participate in planning and conducting youth fitness programs. 15. Every effort be made to satisfy the need for research in all fields within the purview of youth fitness. 16. A plan be developed to give appropriate recognition to outstanding youth fitness endeavors. 17. Strong support be given to the proposal of a National Youth Fitness Week to awaken the Nation to the proper dimensions of youth fitness. 18. The President draw the attention of the Nation to the need for youth fitness by expressing his personal interest and concern on a national radioTV broadcast. Subject Areas of Discussion and Action Recommendations Youth Fitness and Special Interest Organizations Area of Discussion Many organizations have programs concerned with activities and services for children and youth. Such groups frequently direct their emphasis toward a special interest or particular aspect of youth fitness. Since these organizations work directly with youth themselves and are concerned with planning for youth activities, the status, adequacy, and expansion of such programs is of paramount concern to all who are interested in youth fitness. The Council should continue to seek the cooperation of organizations, both private and public, that have experience in the field of youth fitness. Action Recommendations It was recommended that: 1. Youth-serving organizations and all related groups reappraise their own programs to assure that (a) they are giving proper emphasis to fitness and (b) that they are using the best-known techniques in so doing. 2. The Council use its resources and influence to strengthen existing organizations serving youth. 3. Organizations with specialized functions develop a program to educate parents on their individual responsibilities to guide their children in establishing personal desires for fitness, uiltizing available resources of each community. 4. The Council encourage closer cooperation between all youth-serving organizations in the development of youth fitness programs, with an emphasis that all youth have periodic health examinations and dental inspections. 5. Adequate and equal consideration be given to the physiological and mental aspects of health. Youth Fitness Facilities and Programs Area of Discussion The availability and extensive use of facilities is a basic factor in the development of youth fitness. Those facilities which are already designated for activity, as well as potential areas now totally or partially unused for fitness endeavors, are of great concern in the community planning of programs which will reach all the people with varied interests, abilities, and other needs. Every community in our country should inventory its present and potential facilities for the development of youth fitness to determine how effectively they are being used. Action Recommendations It was recommended that: 1. Existing professional organizations be responsible for establishing appropriate standards for facilities and these standards be made available to all communities throughout the country. 2. An adequate portion of appropriate funds provided by Federal, State, or local governments be allocated to supply and develop outdoor and indoor athletic, physical education, and recreation facilities for youth-fitness programs. 3. Individuals, private organizations, and all levels of government be urged to encourage full use of facilities and land under their control, by responsible organizations or groups interested in development of youth fitness who will ensure adequate supervision of such activities. 4. State legislatures be urged to pass enabling legislation which will authorize planning commissions to require that in any housing development adequate space shall be set aside for recreation and physical development programs. 5. All planning commissions and all citizen bodies exercising a planning function be encouraged to include adequate space and facilities for recreation and other physical activities. 6. Communities emphasize to school boards the need for planning community schools which include facilities for community youth fitness programs during nonschool as well as normal school hours. 7. Parents be encouraged to assume a full share of the responsibility for fitness in the family, a portion of which may be discharged by installing facilities for physical exercise in the home and outdoors. Harnessing Community Resources for Youth Fitness Area of Discussion Every community in the Nation has resources for the development of youth fitness action programs. This local level is the one that knows the needs and understand the complexities of its citizens. Through a coordinated effort of all facets of the community, its resources can be harnessed to form a desirable plan and action program for increasing the fitness of its youth. All appropriate agencies, organizations, and especially the public schools should have an essential place in youth-fitness program development, placing the proper emphasis on health, phyical education, and recreation as an integral part of daily living. Programs should be in balance with the total needs of personality, including physical, mental, and spiritual development. Action Recommendations It was recommended that: 1. Governors call State conferences on fitness of American youth and that mayors or other responsible civic officials call similar conferences to advise individuals, formulate programs, and stimulate interest in youth fitness. 2. The leadership of certain communities in their youth fitness action be recognized so as to serve as stimuli to other communities and agencies. 3. Every school have a continuing program which tests the fitness of youth, develops favorable attitudes toward sound body and healthy personality, and attends to the correction of physical, emotional, and mental maladjustments and defects. 4. In implementing any youth fitness action programs consideration be given to the need for additional Federal and State legislation. 5. The Council encourage and assist communities to make greater use of information, materials, and research findings available through the various Federal, State and local departments and private agencies in order to broaden community resources for youth fitness. 6. A workable means be devised for arranging with youth-serving agencies for youth participation in national, state, and local conferences formulating and promoting fitness programs. Area of Discussion Leadership for Youth Fitness Qualified leadership for youth fitness activities will determine to a great extent the degree to which each community will develop desirable fitness programs. Every community has a vast reservoir of potential leadership both in voluntary workers and in professional people. It is necessary to determine the availability, aptitude, training needs, motivation, and job placement of potential leaders in order to acquire the quality and quantity of leaders necessary to initiate and conduct adequate youth fitness programs. The strengthening of curricula in areas of health education, physical educa 448243-57- 3 II |