Jing Hong
Official fitness outcomes differed across the three admission cohorts, with the highest failure prevalence in 2025 reflecting lower-tail differences rather than a uniform decline. Weight-status disparities in official outcomes were partly attributable to the BMI component, although lower performance-based fitness persisted among students with overweight and obesity. These institution-specific findings support entry-level surveillance and targeted aerobic and muscular-endurance support but should not be generalised to vocational-college students across China.
BACKGROUND: Physical fitness surveillance can identify students requiring early support, but evidence from vocational colleges remains limited.
METHODS: This repeated cross-sectional study analysed standardised physical fitness assessment records from 7,163 first-year students in three independent admission cohorts assessed in 2023, 2024, and 2025 at one vocational college in Shanxi Province, China. Official total scores and failure under China's National Student Physical Health Standard were examined using descriptive analyses, quantile regression, logistic regression, and modified Poisson regression. Because BMI contributes directly to the official score, sensitivity analyses used a BMI-free motor-fitness score derived from the six performance-based components.
RESULTS: Official failure prevalence was 23.4% in 2023, 17.0% in 2024, and 34.8% in 2025. Compared with 2024, the 2025 cohort had a higher adjusted prevalence of official failure [adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) 1.80, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.64-1.99]. Median official scores differed modestly, whereas the adjusted 10th- and 25th-percentile scores were lower in 2025, indicating that the difference was concentrated in the lower part of the distribution. Weight-status associations were substantially attenuated after BMI removal, although overweight and obesity remained associated with low BMI-free motor-fitness performance (aPR 1.35, 95% CI 1.27-1.44, and aPR 1.64, 95% CI 1.55-1.74, respectively). Endurance failure was common in both sexes, and the high aggregate muscular strength/endurance failure prevalence was driven largely by male pull-up performance.
CONCLUSION: Official fitness outcomes differed across the three admission cohorts, with the highest failure prevalence in 2025 reflecting lower-tail differences rather than a uniform decline. Weight-status disparities in official outcomes were partly attributable to the BMI component, although lower performance-based fitness persisted among students with overweight and obesity. These institution-specific findings support entry-level surveillance and targeted aerobic and muscular-endurance support but should not be generalised to vocational-college students across China.