Abstract
Monitoring of anthropometric and physical fitness parameters in primary school children is important for the prevention of future health problems. Many of the existing test batteries that are useful for monitoring require expensive test materials, specialized test administrators, and a lot of space. This limits the usefulness of such tests for widespread use. The aim of this pilot study was to design and evaluate monitoring tools for anthropometrics and physical fitness tests in primary schools, called AUT FIT. The test battery consists of height, weight, and waist circumference measurement and eight fitness tests (6 min run, V sit-and-reach, jumping sideways, standing long jump, medicine ball throw, 4 × 10 m shuttle run, ruler drop, single leg stand). Data of 821 children aged 7 to 10 years were gathered. Most AUT FIT tests showed excellent test–retest and interrater reliability and were easy to implement. Criterion-related validity was evident by a strong correlation between physical education teacher rankings and rank scores for motor fitness. Nationwide implementation in the Austrian school system could be an important component for monitoring and improving the health and fitness of primary school children.
Highlights
Published: 24 December 2021The lifelong health benefits of adequate physical activity in childhood are well established [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
Three children did not participate in all measurements and were excluded from the analysis; data from 821 children were used for analysis
Monitoring of cognitive competency is obligatory in the Austrian school system [53], a systematic examination of health-related fitness or motor fitness is currently not integrated into the system [54]
Summary
Published: 24 December 2021The lifelong health benefits of adequate physical activity in childhood are well established [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Interactions exist between physical activity, physical fitness, motor competence, the human psyche, and body weight, and their interplay has important effects on health [8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. The level of physical fitness was defined as the sum of the performance of cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, speed, flexibility, full body coordination, balance, and body composition and was divided into health-related and motor fitness [15,16]. Health-related fitness (HRF) includes cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, and body composition [15,16]. Studies reported a weak relationship between health and flexibility [17,18] and showed that in youth, HRF is well represented by a three-component model that includes cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular endurance, and muscular strength [19]
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