Relationship Between Body Fat And Other Health-related Fitness Components Among Children

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study was intended to examine relationship between body fat and other health-related fitness components among children. METHODS: Standard assessment protocols of FITNESSGRAM were followed to obtain data of body fat percentage (BFP), 20-meter Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER), push-up, curl-up, and sit-&-reach for 99 girls and 81 boys of sixth grade in the United States. Based on its ranking in BFP each gender was divided into three equal-size groups (n = 33 for girls and n = 27 for boys): high BFP group (HG), middle BFP group (MG), and low BFP group (LG). With BFP as independent variable and all the other fitness measures as dependent variables, one-way MANOVA was conducted to examine differences in dependent variables among the three BFP groups for each gender separately. RESULTS: The MANOVA for girls indicated significant differences among the three BFP groups in PACER (F(2, 96) = 17.96, p <.001, η2 =.27), push-up (F(2, 96) = 9.86, p <.001, η2 =.17), and curl-up (F(2, 96) = 4.94, p <.01, η2 =.09), but not in sit-&-reach (p >.60). Pairwise comparisons identified significant differences (p <.02) in PACER in all three pairwise comparisons (14.25±4.59, 21.76±7.95, and 28.21±13.36 for HG, MG, and LG respectively), in push-up (p <.01) between HG (5.56±4.49) and LG (12.88±9.18) and between MG (7.97±5.72) and LG, and in curl-up (p <.01) between HG (26.19±21.99) and LG (44.27±24.11). As for boys, significant differences were also found among the three groups in PACER (F(2, 78) = 22.17, p <.001, η2 =.36), push-up (F(2, 78) = 11.59, p <.001, η2 =.29), and curl-up (F(2, 78) = 11.17, p <.001, η2 =.23), but not in sit-&-reach (p >.15). Post hoc analyses identified significant differences (p <.001) in PACER in all three pairwise comparisons (16.79±7.53, 28.33±11.06, and 37.92±15.42 for HG, MG, and LG respectively), in push-up (p <.0.01) between HG (6.41±5.91) and MG (14.37±8.49) and between HG and LG (15.31±7.94), and in curl-up (p <.005) between HG (24.79±15.82) and MG (44.81±22.46) and between HG and LG (49.77±23.27). CONCLUSIONS: High BFP is significantly related to lower aerobic capacity and muscular strength and endurance among sixth graders, and reducing BFP may result in the improvement in aerobic capacity and muscular strength and endurance. However, BFP has little to do with hamstring flexibility.