Abstract
The aim of the study was to evaluate factors associated with physical fitness (PF) among overweight and non-overweight Austrian secondary school students. PF was measured using the German motor test (DMT) 6–18 and students were asked about sex, migration background, weekly leisure time physical activity and daily electronic media use. In total 560 adolescents (56.6% female) with a mean age of 15.4 ± 1.4 years and a mean body mass index (BMI) of 22.5 ± 4.2 kg/m² were evaluated with 130 (23.2%) students classified as overweight or obese. For the total cohort, results of the multiple linear regression analysis (R2 = 0.34) revealed that a younger age (β = −0.16), no migration background (β = 0.13), a lower BMI (β = −0.29), a higher weekly leisure time physical activity (β = 0.34) and a lower daily electronic media use (β = −0.15) were associated with increased PF. Separate regression analyses for non-overweight and overweight students showed similar regression coefficients except for BMI. In conclusion, the positive influence of modifiable factors such as lower BMI, higher self-reported weekly leisure time sports activity and lower self-reported daily electronic media use should be considered already at young ages to increase physical fitness in overweight and non-overweight youth.
Highlights
Physical fitness, i.e., cardiovascular fitness and muscular fitness, is an integrated measure of most, if not all, body functions involved in the performance of daily physical activity and/or physical exercise [1] and, an important determinant of success for many popular sports and athletic events in youth [2]
The aim of this study was to evaluate factors associated with physical fitness among Austrian secondary school students with a special focus on overweight and non-overweight adolescents
The main findings of the present study demonstrate for the total cohort of secondary school students a significant association between a higher physical fitness with a younger age, no migration background, a lower body mass index (BMI), a higher weekly leisure time physical activity and a lower daily electronic media use
Summary
I.e., cardiovascular (cardiorespiratory, aerobic) fitness and muscular fitness, is an integrated measure of most, if not all, body functions involved in the performance of daily physical activity and/or physical exercise [1] and, an important determinant of success for many popular sports and athletic events in youth [2]. Physical fitness provides an important summative indicator of health, as there are strong associations with mortality and cancer in adults, independent of obesity and physical activity levels, as well as favorable associations with cardiometabolic disease risk, adiposity, mental health, cognition and bone health in children and adolescents [2,3]. Low cardiovascular and muscular fitness in adolescence are significantly associated with all-cause and cancer-associated mortality later in life [4,5]. Marques et al [7] reported in their systematic review that cardiorespiratory fitness was consistently
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