Objective: The objective was to examine the tracking of obesity from childhood to young adulthood in Slovenia. Subjects: A subsample included 4833 children from the Slovenian national sample (n 21 777) who were included in the SLOFIT monitoring system from 1997 to 2008, with complete data at 7 years and 18 years. Design: A 12-year prospective cohort study. Height, weight and triceps skinfold thickness (TSF) were measured at 7, 11, 14 and 18 years. The BMI cut-off points of the International Obesity Taskforce were used to identify excess weight and obesity. Results: Height, weight and BMI at 18 years were well predicted from childhood and became more predictable with age, while TSF was not. Obese and overweight children had the greatest risk of becoming obese or overweight young adults. The history of their weight shows that 40?0 % of males and 48?6 % of females who were obese at 18 years had already been obese at 7 years. Conclusions: Overweight or obese Slovenian children are more likely to become overweight or obese adolescents and young adults than reported in other similar European and American studies, which indicates the need for early prevention and treatment of excess weight and obesity.

The Republic of Slovenia implements the largest longitudinal database of child physical fitness in the world–SLOfit. Slovenia has some of the most physically active children globally, and it has responded rapidly to incorporate national physical activity (PA) interventions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite aggressive campaigns to maintain PA at home, the country has seen a tremendous decrease in child physical fitness over the past several months as self-isolation measures have been mandated by national authorities. These trends prompted researchers to create a method of tracking and communicating government decisions which have a direct impact on child physical activity, fitness and overall health (i.e., the SLOfit Barometer). The research team assembled experts for consultation on creation of the SLOfit Barometer after processing preliminary data on 20,000 schoolchildren which found the greatest decline in child physical fitness since systematic testing began more than 30 years ago. Only 2 months of self-isolation erased over 10 years of hard-fought health gains acquired from national public health policies and PA interventions. This crisis in child fitness requires integrated community participation and a robust public health policy response, and with the SLOfit Barometer acting as a national bellwether system, it is envisioned that policy makers and the public will advocate for bold, progressive actions to combat this national health emergency. This surveillance tool tracks government action to combat the increasing child physical inactivity and obesity trends brought on as a direct result of COVID-19 isolation regulations.

This study found no evidence for a link between short sleep and low or reduced physical activity.

BackgroundThis study was constructed as a comparison group pre-test/post-test quasi-experiment to assess the effect of the implementation of the PE curriculum by specialist PE teachers on children's physical development and physical fitness.Methods146 classes from 66 Slovenian primary schools were assigned to quasi-test (71) and quasi-control (75) groups. Data from the SLOFIT database was used to compare the differences in physical fitness and development between groups of children whose PE lessons were delivered by specialist PE teachers from the second grade onwards (quasi-test, n = 950) or by generalist teachers in all first three grades (quasi-control, n = 994). The Linear Mixed Model was used to test the influence of specialist PE teachers' teaching.ResultsThe quasi-control group showed significantly lower improvement of physical fitness by -0.07 z-score units (95% CI -0.12 to 0.02) compared to the quasi-test group. A significant difference of -0.20 (-0.27 to -0.13) was observed in explosive strength, and of -0.15 (-0.23 to -0.08) in running speed, and in flexibility by -0.22 (-0.29 to -0.14). No significant differences in physical development were observed.ConclusionsSpecialist PE teachers were more successful than generalist teachers in achieving greater improvement of children's physical fitness, but no differences were observed in physical development of quasi-test and quasi-control group.

Slovenia is a pioneer in the systematic monitoring of physical fitness in children and adolescents. In 1969, a national system for monitoring physical and somatic development, called the Sports Educational Chart, was developed and later revised in 1987. Since 1987, all Slovenian primary and secondary schools complete three anthropometric and eight physical fitness measures to assess child development on the population level. The results are processed by the Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana, Laboratory of Physical and Motor Development. The Laboratory provides feedback to every schoolchild, class and school. In recent years, advanced IT support was upgraded and renamed as the SLOfit system. Registered users of SLOfit, consist of PE teachers, parents, children, and physicians, who are able to use the on-line application My SLOfit. Through My SLOfit, individuals can follow their development, assess health risks or get advice. The web platform facilitates cooperation between the educational and health system enabling a holistic approach to developmental difficulties. The My SLOfit application works as a powerful communication tool with other platforms, including a website (www.slofit.org), and Facebook. This article presents the basic features of the SLOfit surveillance system and highlights its development as a support tool for efficient, holistic data use.