Physical fitness of primary school children in relation to overweight prevalence and physical activity habits

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was carried out to analyse, through a limited number of fitness tests, the main conditioning and coordinative abilities in children aged 8-9 years, and their relationship with gender, anthropometric variables and physical activity habits. The height and weight of 256 boys and 241 girls were measured and information about physical activity habits was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Physical performance was assessed by means of a few standardised tests: 'sit & reach', medicine-ball forward throw, standing long jump, 20 m running speed, and forward roll test. In both boys and girls, body weight and body mass index (BMI) were positively correlated with the medicine-ball throw performances and negatively correlated for the standing long jump and speed tests, while no association was found with tests measuring back flexibility and total body coordination. Daily physical activity and participation in sport were not significantly correlated with body weight and BMI, but were positively associated with children's motor performance. The standardised fitness tests selected in the current study have been found to be suitable to identify fitness levels of primary school children. Thanks to their limited number and ease of measurement, they can be used in any school context to classify children and for monitoring the effects of targeted interventions promoting physical activity.

Endurance, Explosive Power, and Muscle Strength in Relation to Body Mass Index and Physical Fitness in Greek Children Aged 7–10 Years

“…Moreover, there is a clear association between children's performance and BMI, also confirmed by other related studies (15, 19, 24). With the exception of the medicine ball-throw in which high BMI resulted in better performance in upper body explosive strength (presumably due to the confounding muscle and fat in BMI), in all remaining physical tests, BMI revealed a clear negative correlation with performance.…”

Relationships between different nutritional anthropometric statuses and health-related fitness of South African primary school children

“…This is in agreement with studies considering older children and adolescents which have suggested a non-linear relationship between BMI and health related fitness (Huang & Malina, 2007; Mak et al., 2010). Studies have indicated that over-nutrition may affect the physical fitness of children, with overweight and obese children performing more poorly on physical fitness tests then normal weight children, when required to move their bodyweight through space (Brunet et al., 2007; Ceschia et al., 2016; Dumith et al., 2010; Prista et al., 2003; Raudsepp & Jürimäe, 1996; Sacchetti et al., 2012; Shang et al., 2010; Tokmakidis et al., 2006; Truter et al., 2010). Walking and running at the same speed requires a greater absolute energy expenditure in obese children when compared to normal weight children (Maffels et al., 1993).…”

Avaliação Do Desempenho De Escolares Em Testes De Aptidão Física

“…A baixa aptidão física está associada a elevados índices de colesterol e triglicerídeos, pressão arterial e risco maior a obesidade, o que pode ser influenciado pelo estado socioeconômico, bem como por outros fatores, tanto ambientais, disponibilidade de espaços para realizar atividades, quanto sociais, influência dos amigos e pessoas próximas no comportamento relacionado à prática de atividade física 30 . Quanto à Agilidade e Velocidade, nas idades de 7 a 10 anos os gêneros não apresentaram diferenças significativas, resultado semelhante são encontrados com estudo realizado em crianças Sul-Africanas de 8 e 9 anos 31 , porém difere de um estudo que encontrou resultados estatisticamente significantes de um melhor desempenho dos meninos 32 . Estas valências são essenciais nas tarefas do dia-a-dia, como andar desviando de pessoas ou obstáculos, locomover-se carregando objetos ou deslocar-se rapidamente 36 .…”