California students are less fit than they were in 2014, although they’re marginally in better shape than five years ago, according to tests released by the state Department of Education.

Statewide, the percentage of students who met all six of the state’s fitness goals declined half a percentage point or less. Yet, only 26.4 percent of fifth-graders, 32.5 percent of seventh-graders and 37.6 percent of ninth-graders, the only grades tested, were declared fit.

In local counties, students generally performed better than their statewide peers, except for ninth-graders in Alameda County.

Results varied widely by school and district, correlating somewhat — but not always — with socioeconomic status. In the Los Gatos School District, for instance, more than 61 percent of fifth- and seventh-graders tested as fit, while in Oakland Unified just 21 percent of both grades did.

And in San Jose Unified, 33 percent of ninth-graders tested as fit, but less than 20 percent of fifth-graders did.

The Department of Education and state schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson did not offer an explanation for the decline in state fitness scores.

In a prepared release Torlakson called the results “a good reminder that all parents and role models need to encourage children to eat nutritious foods and exercise regularly.”

More than 1.3 million students last winter and spring took the tests, which measured aerobic capacity, abdominal strength, upper body strength, trunk strength and flexibility. Students’ body fat also was measured.

Mastery of the tasks are intended to show that students are fit enough to protect themselves against diseases associated with sedentary living. The state has measured students’ fitness for nearly 50 years, with the current test in its 16th year.

Even with the declining numbers, encouraging news was embedded in the results.

Fifth- and seventh-graders improved in aerobic capacity, with 63.5 percent of fifth-graders and 65.4 percent of seventh-graders meeting targets. Ninth-graders, however, declined marginally, to 63.8 percent meeting aerobic targets.

In some districts, fitness seems to improve with age. Of Pleasanton Unified’s fifth-graders, for instance, only 36.3 percent met all targets. But the district showed huge increases in middle- and high school: 49.6 of seventh-graders and 62.1 percent of ninth-graders were fit.

The reverse was true at East Palo Alto Charter, where 33.3 percent of fifth-graders passed all six tests, but only 10.4 percent of its ninth-graders did.

In fact, charter schools, too, had widely varying fitness scores, even within the same charter chain. Seven K-5 schools run by Rocketship Education in Santa Clara County varied from 5 percent fit at Rocketship Spark to 32.4 percent at its flagship Mateo Sheedy.

Contact Sharon Noguchi at 408-271-3775. Follow her at Twitter.com/noguchionk12.