Abstract
IntroductionPhysical fitness benefits health. However, there is a research gap on how physical fitness, particularly aerobic endurance capacity and muscle power, is influenced by residential altitude, blood parameters, weight, and other cofactors in a population living at low to moderate altitudes (300–2100 masl).Materials and MethodsWe explored how endurance and muscle power performance changes with residential altitude, Body Mass Index (BMI), hemoglobin and creatinine levels among 108,677 Swiss men aged 18–22 years (covering >90% of Swiss birth cohorts) conscripted to the Swiss Armed Forces between 2007 and 2012. The test battery included a blood test of about 65%, a physical evaluation of about 85%, and the BMI of all conscripts.ResultsResidential altitude was significantly associated with endurance (p < 0.001) but not with muscle power performance (p = 0.858) after adjusting for all available cofactors. Higher BMI showed the greatest negative association with both endurance and muscle power performance. For muscle power performance, the association with creatinine levels was significant. Elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) and hemoglobin levels were stronger contributors in explaining endurance than muscle power performance.ConclusionWe found a significant association between low to moderate residential altitude and aerobic endurance capacity even after adjustment for hemoglobin, creatinine, BMI and sociodemographic factors. Non-assessed factors such as vitamin D levels, air pollution, and lifestyle aspects may explain the presented remaining association partially and could also be associated with residential altitude. Monitoring the health and fitness of young people and their determinants is important and of practical concern for disease prevention and public health implications.
Highlights
Physical fitness positively correlates with physical activity, which is defined as any production of bodily movement by skeletal muscles with the result of energy expenditure (Caspersen et al, 1985)
When adjusting the General additive model (GAM) models for all available co-factors, the significant association persisted for endurance (p < 0.001) but not for muscle power performance (p = 0.858)
While Body Mass Index (BMI), motivation, physical activity behavior, urbanicity, and occupational background have already been identified as important determinants of physical performance in earlier studies (Wyss et al, 2019), here we show that residential altitude and blood parameters increase the explanatory power of the models
Summary
There is a research gap on how physical fitness, aerobic endurance capacity and muscle power, is influenced by residential altitude, blood parameters, weight, and other cofactors in a population living at low to moderate altitudes (300–2100 masl). A set of either health- or skill-related attributes define physical fitness (Caspersen et al, 1985), which is considered to be a multifaceted composite of cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle strength, muscle power, agility (speed), flexibility, and balance (Wyss et al, 2007; Leyk et al, 2015). Physical fitness positively correlates with physical activity, which is defined as any production of bodily movement by skeletal muscles with the result of energy expenditure (Caspersen et al, 1985). Physical performance tests can be used (Wyss et al, 2007)
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