Abstract
BackgroundThe importance of fitness level on the well-being of children and adolescent has long been recognised. The aim of this study was to investigate the fitness level of school-going Malaysian adolescent, and its association with body composition indices.Methods1071 healthy secondary school students participated in the fitness assessment for the Malaysian Health and Adolescents Longitudinal Research Team (MyHEART) study. Body composition indices such as body mass index for age, waist circumference and waist height ratio were measured. Fitness level was assessed with Modified Harvard Step Test. Physical Fitness Score was calculated using total time of step test exercise and resting heart rates. Fitness levels were divided into 3 categories - unacceptable, marginally acceptable, and acceptable. Partial correlation analysis was used to determine the association between fitness score and body composition, by controlling age, gender, locality, ethnicity, smoking status and sexual maturation. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine which body composition was the strongest predictor for fitness.Results43.3% of the participants were categorised into the unacceptable fitness group, 47.1% were considered marginally acceptable, and 9.6% were acceptable. There was a significant moderate inverse association (p < 0.001) between body composition with fitness score (r = -0.360, -0.413 and -0.403 for body mass index for age, waist circumference and waist height ratio, respectively). Waist circumference was the strongest and significant predictor for fitness (ß = -0.318, p = 0.002).ConclusionOnly 9.6% of the students were fit. There was also an inverse association between body composition and fitness score among apparently healthy adolescents, with waist circumference indicated as the strongest predictor. The low fitness level among the Malaysian adolescent should necessitate the value of healthy lifestyle starting at a young age.
Highlights
The importance of fitness level on the well-being of children and adolescent has long been recognised
Low fitness levels and childhood obesity has been shown to continue into adulthood, with consequent health morbidity like cardiovascular and metabolic diseases [7].In adolescent, most commonly used measurements for adiposity are body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist height ratio (WHtR)
When we further categorize the Physical fitness score (PFS) (Figure 1), only 9.6% of the participants were in the acceptable range, with 21.8% of boys and 1.9% of girls. 47.1% were marginally acceptable (55.9% of boys, 41.7% of girls) and 43.3% were in the unacceptable fitness level (22.3% of boys, 56.4% of girls)
Summary
The importance of fitness level on the well-being of children and adolescent has long been recognised. The aim of this study was to investigate the fitness level of school-going Malaysian adolescent, and its association with body composition indices. Low fitness levels and childhood obesity has been shown to continue into adulthood, with consequent health morbidity like cardiovascular and metabolic diseases [7].In adolescent, most commonly used measurements for adiposity are body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist height ratio (WHtR). There are no studies that investigate these indices with WHtR, or determine which of the body composition indices in adolescent is the strongest predictor for fitness. This is of clinical interest for the purpose of mass screening and future population based health intervention
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