Physical fitness predicts adiposity longitudinal changes over childhood and adolescence

doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2012.06.008

Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport

Volume 16, Issue 2, March 2013, Pages 118-123

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2012.06.008 Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of physical fitness (PF) on the development of subcutaneous adipose tissue in children followed longitudinally over a 9 year period ranging from childhood to adolescence.

Design

This longitudinal study followed 518 healthy participants (262 boys, 256 girls) over a 9-year period ranging from childhood (age 6) to adolescence (age 15). Adiposity (triceps and subscapular skinfolds), and fitness (60 s sit-ups, flexed arm hang, standing long jump, 50 m dash, 10 m shuttle run, sit-and-reach, and 20 m pacer run) were assessed at four annual time points during primary school, and on a follow up, 6 years later, during secondary school.

Methods

Growth in subcutaneous fat was modeled within a HLM statistical framework, using fitness components as time changing predictors.

Results

Flexed arm hang (β = −0.059; p = 0.000), standing long jump (β = −0.072; p = 0.000), 60 s sit-ups (β = −0.041; p = 0.040), 50 m dash (β = 0.956; p = 0.000), and 20 m PACER (β = −0.077; p = 0.000) tests, were found to predict changes on body fat growth over the years, independently of sex.

Conclusions

Improving PF individual levels can positively influence adiposity deposition over the time period covering childhood and adolescence. That occurs independently of the typical sex differentiated adiposity growth.

Introduction

The prevalence of obesity in childhood and adolescence is increasing worldwide both in developed countries and those undergoing economic transition.¹ This evidence represents an obvious secular trend in the velocity of fat deposition along individual growth, and of particular interest to developmental studies, during childhood and adolescence periods.²

Risk factors for childhood obesity include parental fatness, high birth weight, diet (including early infant feeding practices), rate of maturation (especially among girls), physical inactivity, low levels of physical activity, low socioeconomic status, and several behavioral and psychological factors.³ Although the relative importance of specific risk factors are not ordinarily specified at the individual level, a sedentary lifestyle and excessive energy intake are often considered as key mechanisms contributing to the potentially unhealthy weight gain and obesity.

The primary component in the excessive weight gain phenomena in children is subcutaneous adiposity.⁴ Nevertheless, given that tracking coefficients for fatness show to be only low to moderate during childhood and adolescence,⁵ there seems to be room to improve our knowledge about fat development using additional predictors. Among other possibilities, but paramount to a holistic view of developmental health, physical fitness has surely proved to be a good candidate. We know that being unfit during childhood and adolescence is associated with a greater risk of obesity,6, 7 and that higher fitness levels afford for a better insulin sensitivity profile, thus emphasizing the role of fitness even among overweight and obese children.⁸

As to our knowledge, information on the prediction of adiposity growth over these critical periods (childhood and adolescence) for obesity development is scarce or nonexistent. Although an inverse relationship between physical fitness and overweight has been found among school-aged children, the direction and magnitude of the causation is not clearly established.⁹ So, the purpose of this study is to longitudinally investigate the effects of physical fitness components on the development of subcutaneous fat over a 9-year period ranging from childhood (age 6) to adolescence (age 15).

Section snippets

Methods

The participants in this study belong to the EMVC (Estudo Morfofuncional da Criança Vianense), a longitudinal growth study that started in 1997 at Viana do Castelo (northern Portugal). The initial pool of 621 school-aged children was originally recruited from fifteen local primary public schools. A balanced sex, socioeconomic, and urban/rural gradient, was guaranteed in the sample selection. Participants were assessed at four annual time points: T1, T2, T3, T4 (during primary school), and T5 (6

Results

Both sexes had (Table 1 and Fig. 1) an average increase on adiposity deposition over childhood (T1–T4), followed by a stabilization for boys and a continuous increase for girls during adolescent years (T4–T5). Girls always showed higher SumSKF values, but the difference enlarges between 10 and 15 years.

Independent of the time point assessment, boys showed better performance on five of the six PF tests, with the exception being SR. In any case, boys and girls exhibited a clear tendency to

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of PF on the development of subcutaneous adipose tissue in children followed longitudinally over a 9 year period ranging from childhood to adolescence. On two recent developmental theoretical approaches, Stodden et al.,²³ and Gutin,²⁴ both suggested the relevance of physical fitness for youth adiposity development, in accordance with our proposed hypothesis.

The most widely used method of measuring and identifying obesity in children and

Conclusion

In conclusion, strength (FAH, SLJ, SU), velocity (D50m), and aerobic fitness (PACER) proved to be significantly associated to adiposity and adiposity growth in childhood to puberty years. This relationship occurs independently of the typical sex differentiated adiposity growth, emphasizing the potential role of PF to the prevention of obesity. According to our results, improving PF individual levels can positively influence adiposity deposition over the time covering childhood and adolescence.

Practical implication

•
Improving physical fitness during childhood can prevent obesity development.
•
Physical fitness effects on the prevention of obesity are effective for both boys and girls.
•
Physical fitness programs for primary school children can help obesity prevention and healthy lifestyle promotion.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the supporting role of the Municipality of Viana do Castelo as a sponsor of this research.

We thank to the children, their families, and all the schools and teachers who gave their time to participate in this study.

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Original researchPhysical fitness predicts adiposity longitudinal changes over childhood and adolescence

Abstract

Objectives

Design

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Introduction

Section snippets

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

Practical implication

Acknowledgements

Econ Hum Biol

Am J Clin Nutr

Obesity in children and young people: a crisis in public health

Obes Rev

Early influences on body weight regulation

Introduction

Tracking of obesity and body fatness through mid-childhood

Arch Dis Child

Adiposity, physical activity and physical fitness among children from Aragón, Spain

Obesity

Cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index of 9-11-year-old English children: a serial cross-sectional study from 1998 to 2004

Int J Obesity

Fitness versus fatness and insulin resistance in U.S. adolescents

J Obes

Relationship of physical fitness to prevalence and incidence of overweight among schoolchildren

Obesity Res

Physiologic growth and development during adolescence

Pediatr Rev

Skinfold thicknesses and measurement technique

Adipose tissue as an endocrine organ: role of leptin and adiponectin in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases

J Physiol Biochem

Superiority of skinfold measurements and waist over waistto-hip ratio for determination of body fat distribution in a population-based cohort of caucasian Dutch adults

Eur J Endocrinol

Body fatness and risk for elevated blood pressure, total cholesterol, and serum lipoprotein ratios in children and adolescents

Am J Public Health

Do changes in body mass index percentile reflect changes in body composition in children? Data from the Fels Longitudinal Study

Pediatrics

Original research
Physical fitness predicts adiposity longitudinal changes over childhood and adolescence