ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A high level of physical fitness is associated with cardiovascular health in adolescents. The aims of this study were to assess the levels of physical fitness of French adolescents and to determine the prevalence of these adolescents below the minimum level of cardiorespiratory fitness needed to guarantee future favorable cardiovascular profile. METHODS: Participants were 12,082 French children and adolescents (5975 boys, 6107 girls) aged to 9 from 16 years. Cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular endurance, speed, flexibility and speed agility were tested. The associations of physical fitness measures with adolescent's characteristics were analyzed using Student t test, one-way ANOVA, or Pearson correlations as appropriate. RESULTS: Boys were physically fitter than girls, expected for flexibility (P<0.0001). Subjects of normal weight adolescents had significantly better results than overweight or obese adolescents (P<0.05 for all comparisons), but also in comparison with underweight adolescents for muscular endurance, flexibility, cardiorespiratory fitness test (P<0.05). Our findings indicate that, on the basis of cardiorespiratory fitness, 16% of French boys and 7.7% of French girls have a risk of future cardiovascular disease (P<0.0001). This subgroup also performed poorly in all other tests of physical fitness used (P<0.0001). Aerobic fitness decreased significantly with the age (r=-0.168 for boys; r=-0.261 for girls). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the physical fitness of French adolescents must be improved to help protect against cardiovascular disease in adulthood, especially in boys. The study showed also a dramatically decrease of the cardiorespiratory fitness during the adolescence period. Developing and introducing a health promotion curriculum in the French schools is suggested to improve health and physical fitness.
Subject(s)
Adolescent Health/statistics & numerical data , Health Priorities , Health Promotion , Physical Fitness , Adolescent , Cardiovascular Diseases/epidemiology , Cardiovascular Diseases/prevention & control , Child , Female , France/epidemiology , Health Promotion/methods , Health Promotion/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Male , Physical Education and Training/organization & administration , Physical Endurance , Prevalence , Risk Factors , Schools/statistics & numerical dataABSTRACT
Physical fitness is an important determinant of global health in children and adolescents. Key components of physical fitness include cardiorespiratory fitness, flexibility, speed, and muscular and endurance strength. The school environment provides a great opportunity to assess the physical fitness level in children and adolescents. The french national program "Bouge... Une priorité pour ta santé! "(Move ... A priority for your health!) aims to assess the physical fitness of children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years old in French schools. The aim of this paper is to describe the interest to assess different health-related physical fitness components. It presents the chosen tests within said battery for children and adolescents and explains how the battery was conceived. The health-related physical fitness tests included in "BOUGE" were chosen for their validity, reliability, low cost and feasibility for all schools.
