Determinants of VO2 peak in Children from Taiwan

Abstract

This study sought to examine factors that could influence the accuracy of estimating school children's VO2peak using cardiorespiratory (CR) fitness field test measurements. We randomly recruited 38 male subjects, aged 11‐12 years, from a district elementary school male population (n = 165) for the study. To test the reliability of the CR fitness field test items, all 165 male students underwent the following measurements on two different days: 1) 800‐m run‐walk test (RWT); 2) 3‐min bench step test (BST); 3) heart rate (resting, peak exercise and recovery); 4) blood pressure (SBP/DBP); 5) skinfold thickness (SF); and 6) height, weight and body mass index. Test‐retest reliability of the field test measurements ranged from 0.42 to 0.86 (p < 0.05) which is considered moderate to high. The measurements obtained from the 38 students were used as independent variables for developing a regression equation. VO2peak was used as the dependent variable. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that RWT score, subscapular SF (SFsub) and SBP are strong predictors of VO2peak. The total variance explained by these independent variables of the prediction equation was 69%. The equation: VO2peak (ml kg‐1min‐1) = 96.806 ‐ 0.0779 (800‐m RWT, sec) ‐ 0.2078 (SBP, mmHg) ‐ 0.5816 (SFsub, mm), had a total error of 4.47 ml kg‐1 min‐1 and coefficient of variation (CV) of 8.5%. In this study, the 800‐m RWT had a higher correlation coefficient with VO2peak than the 3‐min BST. We concluded that the 800‐m RWT, SFsub and SBP are significant determinants of CR fitness for Chinese boys aged 11‐12 years. Descriptors: Blood pressure, cardiorespiratory endurance, fitness test, VO2peak.