Is it time to give population health surveillance a late fitness test?

Tomkinson et al 1 report temporal trends in aerobic fitness of 1 142 026 children aged 7–19 years old using estimates from the 20 m shuttle run. The data show continued declines in fitness described as ‘ indicative of declines in population health ’. The authors propose that surveillance of children’s fitness should be undertaken within ‘ harmonised national health surveys ’. The authors’ convictions in the potential value of extending...