Original paperSecular trends in health-related physical fitness in Spanish adolescents: The AVENA and HELENA Studies
Introduction
Health-related physical fitness refers to cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, speed-agility and body composition.1 Fitness is considered an important marker of health already in youth,1, 2 and there is increasing evidence that high levels of fitness during childhood and adolescence have a positive influence on adult health status.1
Several meta-analyses showed a decrease in cardiorespiratory fitness during recent years and stabilisation in muscular strength.3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Available original reports all around the world show different trends depending on geographical region.9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 To our knowledge, there is no information available regarding the secular trends in physical fitness in Spanish adolescents. Developing appropriate public health strategies requires analysing on a regular basis the evolution of fitness especially in young people.
The purpose of the present study was to analyse the secular trends in health-related physical fitness (i.e., cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength and speed/agility) in Spanish adolescents between 2001–2002 and 2006–2007.
Section snippets
Methods
In this study we considered data from two separate cross-sectional studies, both representative from the city of Zaragoza (Spain). Data for the first measurement point were obtained between February 2001 and March 2002 and derived from the AVENA (Alimentación y Valoración del Estado Nutricional en Adolescentes) study.15 The AVENA study is a cross-sectional study performed in 5 Spanish cities and designed to assess the nutritional status of a representative sample of adolescents from Spain. For
Results
The characteristics of the study population by measurement point (2001–2002 and 2006–2007) and gender are shown in Table I (see supplementary material). Girls had lower levels of fat free mass and physical fitness than boys (all p < 0.001).
Table 1 shows the mean of physical fitness tests by gender in both measurement points after controlling for age and pubertal status. Boys and girls measured in 2006–2007 had significantly better performance in the 20 m shuttle run test (Cohen's d ∼ 0.4 and ∼0.2,
Discussion
The results of the present study showed that Spanish adolescents in 2006–2007 had higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness and speed-agility, and lower levels of muscular strength than their counterparts 5 years before. We also observed that adolescents measured in 2006–2007 were more likely to have healthy cardiorespiratory fitness levels.
Several meta-analyses described the global changes in the main health-related physical fitness components.4, 5 Contrarily to our results, data from 27
Conclusion
In conclusion, the present study on Spanish adolescents indicates that levels of both speed-agility and cardiorespiratory fitness are higher in 2006–2007, whereas muscular strength components were lower in 2006–2007.
Practical implications
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In order to guarantee healthy levels of physical fitness, Spanish public health programs should promote physical activity among adolescents, especially focussed on muscular strength which was seen to decrease.
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Schools may play a key role, and parents also have a great responsibility to encourage and support active living of their offspring.
Acknowledgments
The HELENA Study took place with the financial support of the European Community Sixth RTD Framework Programme (Contract FOOD-CT: 2005-007034). The AVENA study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Health (FIS n° 00/0015), by grants from Panrico S.A., Madaus S.A., and Procter and Gamble S.A.
This work was also partially supported by the European Union, in the framework of the Public Health Programme (ALPHA project, Ref: 2006120), the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS),
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