Age Appropriate Fitness Protocols launched

Age Appropriate Fitness Protocols were launched on 24th September 2020, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Fit India Movement.

Fit India Movement

The Fit India movement, launched in August 2019, on the occasion of National Sports Day, aims to make fitness an integral part of daily life of every Indian citizen. Hitherto, the movement has witnessed wide participation from citizens across the country in various fitness related activities being promoted by the Fit India Mission Directorate.

Age appropriate fitness protocols

Age Appropriate Fitness Protocols and Guidelines has been jointly developed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. 

The protocols and guidelines have been designed in a way as to enable citizens to test themselves on various parameters that define fitness, as well as simple guidelines that will ensure 30-60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous daily physical activity. The protocols and guidelines, prepared through consultations with a wide range of experts, will facilitate our journey towards increased awareness as well as adoption of physical activities as part of our daily lives.

These Age Appropriate Fitness Protocols and Guidelines have been developed for three age groups 5-18 years, 18-64 years and 65 years and above.

Fitness Protocols and Guidelines (5-18 yrs)

The Fitness Program for children focuses on developing motor skills, knowledge of physical education and Sports Skills, which is implemented and evaluated in a progressive and developmentally appropriate manner. Successful participation in specific physical activities requires the acquisition and mastery of appropriate fundamental and specialised skills (e.g. overhead strike with a racket, backhand throw with a disc, in-step kick with a ball, front-crawl, stroke with bat/racquet, a specific step with dance and music).

Key Objectives

• Ensure 60 Minutes of Moderate-to-vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) Per Day
• Promote 'Fitness for All'
• Institution of Age-appropriate, Progressive Curriculum:
  • Children of Class Nursery to III to perform variety of fundamental movement skills
  • All Children from Class VI onwards to get intervention aimed at improving their fitness levels, competency in sports skills and techniques of children
  • Age-appropriate Physical Activities and Exercises to include flavours of
    • Recreational Games
    • Modern Sports and Traditional Games
    • Dance
    • Yoga
    • Free-hand exercises
• Fitness Assessment Report Card for every Child (Class 1-12):
  • Physical Fitness Assessments will be conducted by School for each Student by trained staff to Track the fitness level and health indicator of each child as per the Khelo India battery of tests for Class 1-3 (5-8 years) and Class 4-12 (9 to 18+ years)
  • Assessment of children by their parents
• Create a System for Monitoring: Tracking the overall improvements of the school as well as each class and children. Re-evaluate Intervention Strategy
• Develop system for regular feedback and program re-evaluation strategy

To read the complete protocol, click here.

Fitness Protocols and Guidelines (18-65 yrs)

Physical fitness is the ability to perform day to day normal activities with vigor, alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and meet any unforeseen emergencies. Physical fitness is composed of various attributes which individuals have or achieved that relates to their ability to perform physical activity. Each physical fitness component can be tested and trained separately. The purpose is to enable adults, aged 18-65 years to demonstrate individually and with others, the physical skills, practices and values to enjoy a lifetime of active healthy living.

Key objectives

• Ensure 30-60 Minutes of Moderate-to-vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) per day
• Promote 'Fitness for All' 

To read the complete protocol, click here.

Fitness Protocols and Guidelines (65+ yrs)

Physical fitness is the ability to perform day to day normal activities with vigor, alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and meet any unforeseen emergencies. Therefore, the basic goal for being physically fit in older adults is to have physical capacity to perform daily tasks safely, independently and without undue fatigue.

Development of physical fitness tests among older adults will allow the evaluation, risk factor identification and hence personalized recommendation and prescription of exercise and physical activity based on objective data, which can also be used for planning various health related programs and for goal setting at the community and national level. The physical & physiological parameters being tested should be associated with functions related with basic and advanced normal everyday activities, hence physical fitness tests can detect weaknesses which can be treated before causing serious functional limitations.

To read the complete protocol, click here.

Fit India mobile app

The Fit India App is to empower each individual to check his/her fitness score based on a set of age specific fitness tests and get specific recommendations on how to improve their fitness level through physical activities including yoga protocols. Animated Videos have been provided to make individuals understand about the procedure for conducting the fitness tests themselves. These features are based on the Age-appropriate fitness protocols launched by Prime Minister.

The “Fitness Protocol” feature allows the user from different age groups to do various exercises which help them in being able to keep up with basic fitness levels. The protocol covers exercises that are universally followed and duly ratified by health experts.

Everyone has a different food, activity and hydration need based on their age, gender, current lifestyle and body composition. The “My Plan” feature of Fit India Mobile App lets every Individual to define their current lifestyle – time spent on physical activity, water intake, sleep hours, current weight and targeted weight  - to get a customised food plan, lifestyle changes for them to achieve his/her goals. The Fit India App recommends Indian Food Plan, No. of Glasses of Water and no. of hours of Sleep.

The “Activity Tracker” feature of the application helps Individuals to keep track of their daily activity levels. The real time Step Tracker helps Individuals to track their daily steps and encourages them to set higher goals for themselves. The App lets individuals to also track their daily Water Intake, Calorie Intake and Sleep Hours.

Individuals can set hourly reminders and track their progress of Fitness Scores and Daily Activity over a period of time, share their fitness and activity data with other to motivate more people to take up fitness and lifestyle changes.

The App also provides opportunities for Individuals, Schools, Groups and Organisations to participate in various Fit India Events, Certification Programs, etc. People can share their fitness success stories using this platform.

To access the app for Android platform, click here.

To access the app for iOS platform, click here.

Source : Fit India website