Abstract
BackgroundNot only in adults but also in children and adolescents, obesity increases the risk for several health disorders. In turn, many factors including genetic variations and environmental influences (e.g. physical activity) increase the risk of obesity. For instance, 25 to 40 percent of people inherit a predisposition for a high body mass index (BMI). The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize current cross-sectional and longitudinal studies on physical activity, fitness and overweight in adolescents and to identify mediator and moderator effects by evaluating the interaction between these three parameters.MethodsThe electronic academic databases PubMed, SportDiscus, WEB OF KNOWLEDGE and Ovid were searched for studies on physical activity, fitness and overweight in adolescents aged 11 to 19 years (cross-sectional studies) and in adolescents up to 23 years old (longitudinal studies) published in English in or after 2000.ResultsTwelve cross-sectional and two longitudinal studies were included. Only four studies analyzed the interaction among physical activity, fitness and overweight in adolescents and reported inconsistent results. All other studies analyzed the relationship between either physical activity and overweight, or between fitness and overweight. Overweight—here including obesity—was inversely related to physical activity. Similarly, all studies reported inverse relations between physical fitness and overweight. Mediator and moderator effects were detected in the interrelationship of BMI, fitness and physical activity. Overall, a distinction of excessive body weight as cause or effect of low levels of physical activity and fitness is lacking.ConclusionsThe small number of studies on the interrelationship of BMI, fitness and physical activity emphasizes the need for longitudinal studies that would reveal 1) the causality between physical activity and overweight / fitness and overweight and 2) the causal interrelationships among overweight, physical activity and fitness. These results must be carefully interpreted given the lack of distinction between self-reported and objective physical activity and that studies analyzing the metabolic syndrome or cardiovascular disease were not considered. The importance of physical activity or fitness in predicting overweight remains unknown.
Highlights
In adults and in children and adolescents, obesity increases the risk for several health disorders
Several epidemiological and intervention studies [16,17] have identified the role of physical activity and physical fitness for overweight in children and adolescents, and we focused on the role of sport during leisure time
The purpose of this systematic review was to provide an overview of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies published in or after 2000 on physical activity, fitness, and overweight in adolescents, and to identify mediator and moderator effects in the interrelationship among these three parameters considering gender differences because of the significant differences in these parameters between boys and girls [22]
Summary
In adults and in children and adolescents, obesity increases the risk for several health disorders. In Germany for instance, 17% of adolescents aged 14 to 17 years are overweight and nearly 9% are obese [3]. Several health conditions and disorders have been attributed to being overweight in children and adolescents [10]. Overweight children and adolescents are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular, metabolic, pulmonary, skeletal or psychosocial disorders [11]. Even if these conditions or disorders are not manifested during childhood, being overweight in childhood increases the risk of illness in adulthood [10].
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