Overview:
President Trump has revived the Presidential Health Check and Health Award via a brand new government order, celebrating the return of the custom with skilled athletes—together with controversial NFL star Lawrence Taylor—amid a broader effort to deal with America’s youth well being disaster.
Washington, D.C. — In an government order issued this week, President Donald Trump introduced the reestablishment of the Presidential Health Check and a major overhaul of the President’s Council on Sports activities, Health, and Diet, aiming to fight the nation’s rising well being disaster forward of America’s 250th anniversary in 2026.
On Thursday, Trump signed the order reviving the Presidential Health Check, a set of standardized workouts that faculties administered to college students for over half a century till 2013, when President Barack Obama phased it out in favor of a extra holistic method to scholar wellness. On the time of publication, it’s not but clear which workouts will likely be a part of the take a look at sooner or later or the official launch.
The take a look at, historically carried out a few times a yr for college students ages 10 to 17, featured well-known drills comparable to push-ups, the PACER operating take a look at, and the notorious one-mile run. And it was a aggressive affair: college students who positioned at or above the eighty fifth percentile on all workouts had been eligible for the Presidential Health Award, which Trump’s government order additionally reinstates.
“From the late Nineteen Fifties till 2013, graduate students all throughout our nation competed towards one another within the presidential health take a look at, and it was an enormous deal,” Trump stated on the signing ceremony, surrounded by a slew {of professional} athletes and other people in his Cupboard. “This was an exquisite custom, and we’re bringing it again.”
Trump celebrated the return of this “fantastic custom” by inviting pals and former athletes to the White Home, together with Lawrence Taylor, the Corridor of Fame NFL linebacker. Taylor’s inclusion raised eyebrows, as he has a felony historical past that features pleading responsible to sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute after a 2010 arrest involving a 16-year-old intercourse employee. He was later required to register as a intercourse offender.
Addressing a Nationwide Well being Disaster among the many nation’s youth, Trump’s order frames the initiative as a matter of nationwide safety, tutorial efficiency, and financial power. The order requires a renewed nationwide tradition of bodily vitality, stating that “the bodily and psychological well being of the American folks has been uncared for.”
The manager order creates a 30-member council, appointed by the president, that may advise on methods to enhance youth participation in sports activities, promote good diet, and reintroduce school-based health awards. The council can even discover partnerships with skilled athletes and group organizations to broaden public engagement.
Referencing President Eisenhower’s 1956 youth health initiative and John F. Kennedy’s essay, “The Gentle American,” Trump’s order positions the revamped council and take a look at as a part of a protracted custom of linking health to patriotism and nationwide power.
“In 2026, we are going to have fun the 250th anniversary of our nice Nation, honor the seventieth anniversary of the unique President’s Council on Youth Health, and showcase America’s continued international dominance in sports activities. Over the following 3 years, America will host the Ryder Cup, the President’s Cup, the FIFA World Cup, and the Olympic Video games — the world’s premiere sporting competitions. These occasions will present inspiration for all generations of Individuals,” learn the order.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Well being and Human Companies, in collaboration with Linda McMahon, Secretary of Training, will oversee the Presidential Health Check and associated initiatives. The Division of Well being and Human Companies will present funding and administrative assist, and the Division of Training will bear publication prices.
The manager order additionally mandates that the council be terminated after two years, except prolonged by presidential authority.
