Longitudinal differences in running endurance and body mass index — a 25-year comparison

Abstract

Long-range repeated-measure sample differences in body dimensions, body composition and physical performance help to describe the changes in a population's lifestyle. The aim of our study was to analyse such changes in longitudinal studies repeated after a 25-year interval. Data collections repeated every six months for the periods 1977-1981 (n=152) and 2002-2006 (n=158) were carried out in nonathletic boys aged between 6.51 and 11.50 years from the same districts of Budapest. Means for height, body mass, BMI, body fat percentage, and distance covered during a running endurance test, as well as the slopes of the changes were compared. The children of the second series of studies were significantly taller and heavier, had more depot fat and showed poorer cardio-respiratory endurance than their peers 25 years before. The increases with age in weight, BMI and depot fat were steeper in the second series. The significant differences that developed in anthropometric traits and physical performance during these 25 years are regarded as indirect evidence for how severely the average physical condition had declined, as well as how health risks of the schoolchildren had increased.

Effects of Moderate Combined Resistance- and Aerobic-Exercise for 12 Weeks on Body Composition, Cardiometabolic Risk Factors, Blood Pressure, Arterial Stiffness, and Physical Functions, among Obese Older Men: A Pilot Study

“…Body weight and % body fat gradually increase, but free fat mass is reduced with advancing age [ 23 ]. These changes in body composition lead to frailty, sarcopenia, and metabolic syndrome [ 19 ].…”

Effect of circuit training on body composition, physical fitness, and metabolic syndrome risk factors in obese female college students

“…Body composition refers to the characteristics of the human body including the body fat, % body fat, muscle mass, and LBM. With advancing aging, in general, body weight and % body fat is gradually increased but LBM is decreased ( Sziva et al, 2009 ). These negative alterations of body composition can lead to metabolic syndrome and exercise has been well known as mediator to positively change body composition ( Theodorakopoulos et al, 2017 ).…”

An Update on Secular Trends in Physical Fitness of Children and Adolescents from 1972 to 2015: A Systematic Review

“…Specifically, means and standard deviations were pooled across sex and year within these cells. For three studies, standard deviations were computed from standard errors [34][35][36]; for two studies, the number of participants for subgroups was extrapolated from aggregate numbers [37,38]. Of note, Spengler et al [39] provided means and standard deviations for their study in response to a personal request.…”

“…Sample sizes ranged between 41 and 2,153 participants. Sixteen of the 22 studies were carried out in Europe [34,[37][38][39][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60], two in Australia [35,61], one in the US [36], one in Canada [62], one in New Zealand [63], and one in Brazil [64]. The time span varied from six to 35 years with a mean value of 20 years and a median of 21 years.…”

“…or maximal[55] tests on a cycle ergometer, the 20-m shuttle run test[57][58][59]62] or time-related (6-min run test[39], 9-min run test[50], Cooper test[37,38]) as well as distancerelated cardiorespiratory endurance tests (1200-m run test[51], 1600-m run test[61]). Studies which assessed relative muscle strength comprised five different lower/upper limbs strength tests as well as tests for the assessment of trunk muscle strength.…”