Dataset: Fitness in Flux: A 50-Year Chronicle of the Steady Decline in Physical Fitness of College Students

This dataset comprises a comprehensive collection of 1.5-mile field test times recorded over a span of 50 years, from 1973 to 2023, involving more than twelve thousand college-age students at a private evangelical university in the South Central United States. The dataset, which includes 12,937 individual records, was meticulously curated from required health and physical exercise classes, offering a unique longitudinal perspective on physical fitness trends among college-age adults.
Each entry in the dataset represents a completed 1.5-mile run, detailing the year of the test, the completion time in seconds, and the sex of the participant. This longitudinal data provides an invaluable resource for researchers, policymakers, and educators interested in understanding and addressing the declining trends in physical fitness over several decades.
The data were digitized from original paper records and later electronic submissions, ensuring a comprehensive historical record. The dataset is presented in a de-identified format, with all personal information removed to uphold participant privacy and confidentiality. The records are further classified by sex and include an indication of whether the test was completed through running or an alternative mode permitted due to specific circumstances, although the primary focus of analysis is on running times due to their prevalence and comparability over the study period.