The fittest secondary school in the country is Oaklands Community College in Edenderry, Co Offaly, the results of a recent fitness challenge have revealed.

The Aviva Health Schools Fitness Challenge was developed by Prof Niall Moyna of Dublin City University and the Wellness Economic Initiative Alliance. As part of this, the fitness levels of first and second-year pupils were assessed in secondary schools nationwide over a six-week period.

During this time, attempts were also made to improve overall fitness levels. Over 8,000 young people from 219 schools in 24 counties took part.

One method of assessing fitness was via the bleep test, also known as the shuttle run. This involves participants continually running between two lines that are 20 metres apart in time to recorded bleeps.

The running speed is increased at one minute intervals and the participant must attempt to run between the lines as many times as possible in time with the bleeps. This can provide valuable information about the fitness of an individual.

The results found that Oaklands Community College was the fittest school, as its pupils were able to complete an average of 89 shuttle runs.

Abbey CBS in Tipperary was named the most improved school. At the beginning of the six weeks, its pupils could complete an average of 51 shuttle runs, however by the end, they could complete 82 shuttle runs - a significant increase in fitness levels over the six-week period.

Overall, boys were found to be around 60% fitter than girls. After the six-week period, boys were able to complete an average of 62 shuttle runs, compared to just 38 among girls. However, according to Prof Moyna, this is not surprising as boys tend to be more involved in organised team sports or sport clubs in the community.

"The Schools Fitness Challenge highlights the importance of cardiovascular fitness from an early age, and demonstrates that as little as six weeks of exercise training can lead to significant improvements in fitness among young girls and boys

"In my view, the fitness levels of children should be assessed at the beginning and end of each school year," he said.

He called for physical education (PE) to be given the same priority as academic subjects.

"Children should be educated about why it's important to be fit from a fitness perspective, but also what physical activity actually does physiologically to their heart and lungs, so there's a clear understanding of how the body responds to exercise," Prof Moyna explained.

Commenting on the results of the challenge, Oaklands' PE teacher, Roisin O'Connell, said they were ‘thrilled' with the results.

"The students worked incredibly hard to reach their fitness goals and they achieved this by doing 20 minutes of aerobic activity at the start of every PE class, partaking in extra physical exercise during their mid-term break and going for walks and runs together along the canal.

"Our hope is that all the students maintain their levels of physical activity and push themselves to be regularly active right through to adulthood," she said.

Meanwhile, the fitness challenge found that Kerry was the fittest county overall, followed by Tipperary, Monaghan, Mayo and Meath. While Oaklands was the fittest mixed school, St Macartans in Monaghan was found to be the fittest boys school, while St Joseph's Cluny in Dublin was the fittest girls school.