Physical fitness as a vital sign: MAHA goal is lofty, but is it practical?

Nobody’s against fitness for children. But health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s proposal to make physical activity a “vital sign” akin to blood pressure or growth is raising questions among physiology experts.

Physical fitness for all and children’s health are two tentpoles of Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again mission, articulated in the MAHA Commission’s initial meeting in May, outlined in a draft Make Our Children Healthy Again report in August, and solidified in the full report Tuesday . The report promotes “physical activity as a vital sign,” a concept that usually defines a healthy level as 150 minutes of movement per week .

The commission, though, urges states to establish specific metrics of fitness, for example, a “predicted VO₂ Max” as a baseline for evaluating Me