RT journal article
T1 Fitness, body composition, and metabolic risk scores in children and adolescents: the UP&DOWN study
A1 Sánchez-Delgado, Alejandro
A1 Pérez-Bey, Alejandro
A1 Izquierdo Gómez, Rocío
A1 Jiménez Iglesias, José
A1 Marcos, Ascesión
A1 Gómez‑Martínez, Sonia
A1 Girela‑Rejón, María José
A1 Veiga, Oscar L.
A1 Castro Piñero, José
A2 Didáctica de la Educación FísicaPlástica y Musical
K1 Cardiovascular disease
K1 Aerobic capacity
K1 Muscular strength
K1 Youth
K1 Adiposity
AB We aimed to analyse the longitudinal association between physical fitness (PF) and body composition (BC) with a metabolic risk score (Met4) in children and adolescents and to elucidate whether the association between PF and Met4 differs when using relativized or absolute fitness variables. A total of 188 children (86 females) and 195 adolescents (97 females) were included. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) was determined by the 20-m shuttle run test, and muscular fitness (MF) was determined by hand grip and standing long jump tests. Height and weight were measured, and the body mass index (Kg/m(2)) was calculated. Triceps and subscapular skinfolds were assessed to compute body fat percentage. Met4 was computed from systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and glucose levels. Relative CRF was longitudinally and negatively associated with Met4 in female children (beta = -0.031, p = 0.025), while absolute CRF was positively associated with Met4 in male children and adolescents (beta = 0.000, p < 0.05). Relative upper and lower-body MF were longitudinally and negatively associated with Met4 in female adolescents (beta = -1.347, beta = -0.005, p < 0.05), while absolute lower-body MF was positively associated with Met4 in male children (beta = 0.000, p = 0.019). BC was longitudinally and positively associated with Met4 in male children (beta-ranging from 0.011 to 0.055, all p < 0.05) and male adolescents (beta-ranging from 0.011 to 0.046, all p < 0.05).Conclusion: BC is more strongly associated with Met4 than PF in children and adolescents. An optimal body weight status should be considered the main objective of health-promoting programs at childhood and adolescence. Furthermore, the way of expressing the fitness variables determines the direction of the association with Met4.What is Known:Physical fitness is an important health indicator in children and adolescents, with great amount of previous evidence supporting the preventive role of maintaining optimal levels of both cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness for future cardiometabolic issues.What is New:The way of reporting physical fitness variables can affect the associations between physical fitness features and cardiometabolic outcomes. Since body composition variables have a great impact on both physical fitness and cardiometabolic health, relativizing physical fitness performance by body composition could lead to erroneous conclusions.
PB SPRINGER
SN 1432-1076
YR 2022
FD 2022-11
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/27844
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/27844
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 08-nov-2026