Association of Body Weight and Physical Fitness during the Elementary School Years

Clemens Drenowatz, Si-Tong Chen, Armando Cocca, Gerson Ferrari, Gerhard Ruedl and Klaus Greier
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Clemens Drenowatz: Division of Sport, Physical Activity and Health, University of Education Upper Austria, 4020 Linz, Austria
Si-Tong Chen: Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne 8001, Australia
Armando Cocca: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innbruck, Austria
Gerson Ferrari: Escuela de Ciencias de la Actividad Física, El Deporte y la Salud, Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH), Santiago 7500618, Chile
Gerhard Ruedl: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innbruck, Austria
Klaus Greier: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innbruck, Austria

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 6, 1-12

Abstract: Physical fitness and body weight are key correlates of health. Nevertheless, an increasing number of children display poor physical fitness and high body weight. The aim of this study was to examine the prospective association of physical fitness with body weight throughout the elementary school years with a special emphasis on children with high body weight or poor physical fitness at baseline. A total of 303 Austrian children (55.1% male) completed the German motor test up to eight times over a 4-year time span (between the ages 6 and 10 years). Physical fitness did not differ across quartiles of body weight at baseline. A more pronounced weight gain, however, was associated with an impaired development of physical fitness and this association was more pronounced in children with higher baseline body weight. In addition, the detrimental effects of an impaired development of physical fitness on subsequent body weight were more pronounced in children with higher baseline body weight. No differences in the longitudinal association between body weight and physical fitness, on the other hand, were observed across quartiles of baseline fitness. These results emphasize the importance of the promotion of physical fitness, particularly in children with increased body weight, to ensure future health.

Keywords: overweight; obesity; youth; cardiorespiratory fitness; muscular strength; BMI percentile; motor competence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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