Fitness Testing for Children: Let’s Mount the Zebra!

Cohen, Daniel D.; Voss, Christine; Sandercock, Gavin

doi:10.1123/jpah.2013-0345

Cited by 24 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Where possible, data should be collected at various time points throughout the school year and repeated longitudinally to enable a rich data set on youth physical fitness trends in the region to be created. Although the use of fitness testing in schools remains a divisive topic (9), our data support the viewpoint that physical fitness testing within the school setting has utility for both sport and health promotion in young people (42,43) from a national and global perspective.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 66%

A Preliminary Study of Physical Fitness in 8- to 10-Year-Old Primary School Children From North East England in Comparison With National and International Data

Weston

Pasecinic

Basterfield

2019

Pediatric Exercise Science

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Purpose: Despite recent updates to international normative values for physical fitness in young people, contemporary data sets from England are sparse with no published data available from the North East. We compared physical fitness in children from one primary school in North East England to International and European reference data, and other English regions. Methods: Eighty participants (mean age [SD]: 9.1 [0.6] y) completed a testing battery of 20-m shuttle run test, handgrip strength, standing broad jump, and sit-and-reach. Scores for each component were assessed against International or European age-and sex-specific centiles, then grouped into quintiles. Differences between our sample and European and English data sets were explored using z scores and t tests. Results: For all components, ≥58% of participants were classified as having "moderate" or lower levels. Twenty-meter shuttle run test performance was not substantially different compared with other English data sets. For handgrip and sit-and-reach, our sample scored significantly worse than South East children. Standing broad jump distance in girls, and handgrip in boys and girls, was significantly lower than North West equivalents. Conclusion: Physical fitness levels in primary school children from North East England are suboptimal, highlighting a need for large-scale monitoring studies to build on our preliminary findings.Physical fitness can be defined as a set of characteristics related to health and performance, including aerobic fitness, muscular endurance, strength and power, body composition, flexibility, balance, agility, and reaction time (7,22). In children and adolescents, the characteristics directly attributable with health improvements are aerobic fitness, body composition, flexibility, and muscular fitness-a collective term representing muscular strength, local muscular endurance, and muscular power (39)- (7,20,21,47). Of these, aerobic fitness-often defined as the ability of the working muscle to receive and utilize oxygen for energy production during exercise (4)-is a strong summative marker of physical health (30); with peak oxygen uptake (VO 2 peak)-the highest rate at which oxygen can be consumed during exercise (4)-widely recognized as the best single measure of aerobic fitness in young people (5). As VO 2 peak is highly correlated with body mass, this is typically controlled for by dividing peak VO 2 (mL/min) by body mass in kg and expressing it as a ratio of mL/kg/min (4). Higher levels of aerobic fitness are associated with reduced risk of future metabolic and cardiovascular disease; obesity and mortality (9,38); better mental health (30); and potentially higher levels of academic achievement (19). There is also accumulating evidence linking higher levels of muscular fitness with various physical and psychological health benefits in young people (39), some of which are independent of aerobic fitness.Despite the well-documented benefits of higher physical fitness in youth, debate remains over whether aerobic fitness in young p...

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 66%

A Preliminary Study of Physical Fitness in 8- to 10-Year-Old Primary School Children From North East England in Comparison With National and International Data

Weston

Pasecinic

Basterfield

2019

Pediatric Exercise Science

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“…As discussed, the correct implementation of an RT program is reliant upon accurate and appropriate testing to ensure that the practitioner can assign the correct volume and intensity to progress the adolescent [83]. Previously, testing protocols in the school environment have been greeted with trepidation from parents [114]. Traditionally fitness testing has been aerobically, or bodyweight centred, which may negatively impact physical self-concept in overweight and obese adolescents [114][115][116].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previously, testing protocols in the school environment have been greeted with trepidation from parents [114]. Traditionally fitness testing has been aerobically, or bodyweight centred, which may negatively impact physical self-concept in overweight and obese adolescents [114][115][116]. However, the nature of assessing MF can provide a way of overweight and obese adolescents to demonstrate their increased absolute strength when compared to their leaner peers [51].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficacy of School-Based Interventions for Improving Muscular Fitness Outcomes in Adolescent Boys: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

et al. 2019

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Background It has been reported that boys' and girls' physical activity (PA) levels decline throughout adolescence. Boys are at risk of physical inactivity during adolescence; however, in intervention research, they are an under-represented group relative to girls. It is suggested that the school environment may be central to developing interventions that support adolescents in meeting the current PA guidelines. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the efficacy of school-based physical activity interventions for improving muscular fitness (MF) in adolescent males. Methods This systematic review and meta-analysis followed the preferred reporting systems for meta-analyses guidelines and was registered on PROSPERO (Registration number: CRD42018091023). Eligible studies were published in English within peer-reviewed articles. Searches were conducted in three databases, with an additional grey literature search in Google Scholar. Studies investigating MF outcomes were included. Results There were 43 data sets identified across 11 studies, from seven countries. Overall methodological quality of the studies was moderate-to-strong. Interventions targeting MF evidenced a small-to-medium effect (g = 0.32, CI 0.17, 0.48, p < 0.00). Subgroup analyses of MF delivery method resulted in small-to-medium effects: upper limb MF measures (g = 0.28, 95% CI − 0.02, 0.58, p = 0.07), lower limb MF measures (g = 0.28, 95% CI 0.09, 0.68, p = 0.03), combined MF activities (g = 0.24, 95% CI − 0.04 to 0.49, p = 0.05), plyometric activities (g = 0.39, 95% CI 0.09, 0.68, p = 0.01), body weight (g = 0.27, 95% CI − 0.10, 0.65, p = 0.15), and traditional MF methods (g = 0.43, 95% CI 0.09, 0.78, p = 0.01). Conclusions School-based interventions which aimed to increase MF outcomes in adolescent boys demonstrated smallto-moderate effects. Traditional and plyometric methods of resistance training appear to be the most effective form of PA delivery in adolescent males. More quality research is required to assess the impact of MF delivered in the school environment to inform future intervention design.It is recommended that adolescents engage in a minimum of 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day with muscle and bone strengthening exercise Key PointsMF interventions delivered in a school-based environment demonstrated small-to-moderate effects in adolescent boys.MF delivered in a traditional manner, such as weight machines and free weights, may have a greater effect on enhancing MF than other forms of MF delivery.Plyometric forms of MF delivery demonstrated significant homogeneous effects and require further quality research to assess their application in the school environment.

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“…These findings may therefore also be attributable to “healthy” young people choosing to use active modes of travel to school. Other components of fitness such as muscular strength and power have been shown to be positively associated with health during childhood [9–11]. Moreover, flexibility in childhood may also reduce future risk of chronic musculoskeletal problems [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active travel to non-school destinations but not to school is associated with higher physical activity levels in an ethnically diverse sample of inner-city schoolchildren

2017

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BackgroundThis study investigated the association of travel mode to school and non-school destinations with objectively assessed health markers and physical activity in an ethnically diverse sample of inner-city UK schoolchildren.MethodsWe used data from the Camden Active Spaces project (n = 450 children aged 9.1 yrs) to examine associations of school travel mode and frequency of active travel to non-school destinations with daily and out-of-school physical activity, sedentary time and health markers; whilst controlling for appropriate covariates including objectively measured route length.ResultsHigh frequency of active travel to non-school destinations was associated with more time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during out-of-school periods (3.8, 0.8–6.9 min/d) and greater out-of-school (738, 197.4–1278.6 steps/d) and daily step counts (588.1, 51.6–1124.6 steps/d). No associations were observed between school travel mode, health outcomes and activity levels.ConclusionHigh frequency of active travel to non-school destinations is associated with higher levels of physical activity. These findings highlight the contribution of travel to non-school destinations to overall physical activity levels in schoolchildren.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3920-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Fitness Testing for Children: Let’s Mount the Zebra!

Cited by 24 publications

References 58 publications

A Preliminary Study of Physical Fitness in 8- to 10-Year-Old Primary School Children From North East England in Comparison With National and International Data

A Preliminary Study of Physical Fitness in 8- to 10-Year-Old Primary School Children From North East England in Comparison With National and International Data

Efficacy of School-Based Interventions for Improving Muscular Fitness Outcomes in Adolescent Boys: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Active travel to non-school destinations but not to school is associated with higher physical activity levels in an ethnically diverse sample of inner-city schoolchildren

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