Physical fitness reference standards in European children: the IDEFICS study
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemEditorial
Nature Publishing Group
Fecha
2014-09Referencia bibliográfica
De Miguel-Etayo, P., Gracia-Marco, L., Ortega, F. B., Intemann, T., Foraita, R., Lissner, L., ... & Molnár, D. (2014). Physical fitness reference standards in European children: the IDEFICS study. International journal of Obesity, 38(2), S57-S66. [doi:10.1038/ijo.2014.136]
Patrocinador
European Union (EU) 016181; Volkswagen; Spanish Government RYC-2011-09011; VR (research council in Sweden); FORTE (research council in Sweden); FORMAS (research council in Sweden)Resumen
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: A low fitness status during childhood and adolescence is associated with important health-related
outcomes, such as increased future risk for obesity and cardiovascular diseases, impaired skeletal health, reduced quality of life and
poor mental health. Fitness reference values for adolescents from different countries have been published, but there is a scarcity of
reference values for pre-pubertal children in Europe, using harmonised measures of fitness in the literature. The IDEFICS study offers
a good opportunity to establish normative values of a large set of fitness components from eight European countries using
common and well-standardised methods in a large sample of children. Therefore, the aim of this study is to report sex- and
age-specific fitness reference standards in European children.
SUBJECTS/METHODS: Children (10 302) aged 6–10.9 years (50.7% girls) were examined. The test battery included: the flamingo
balance test, back-saver sit-and-reach test (flexibility), handgrip strength test, standing long jump test (lower-limb explosive
strength) and 40-m sprint test (speed). Moreover, cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by a 20-m shuttle run test. Percentile curves
for the 1st, 3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 97th and 99th percentiles were calculated using the General Additive Model for
Location Scale and Shape (GAMLSS).
RESULTS: Our results show that boys performed better than girls in speed, lower- and upper-limb strength and cardiorespiratory
fitness, and girls performed better in balance and flexibility. Older children performed better than younger children, except for
cardiorespiratory fitness in boys and flexibility in girls.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide for the first time sex- and age-specific physical fitness reference standards in European children
aged 6–10.9 years.