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Effects of physical fitness on waist circumference in a group of school children living in Southern Italy

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Abstract

Purpose

Physical fitness (PF) is considered an important health marker already in youth with positive influence on adult health. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of overweight/obesity on most relevant health-related physical fitness (HRPF) components in a group of school-age children.

Methods

One hundred and thirteen children (49 male; 64 female; 11–13 years) living in Naples were recruited for the study. Height, weight, waist circumference (WC) and Body Mass Index (BMI) were measured. Physical activity (PA) level and sedentary time were determined by a standard 7-day recall questionnaire. HRPF components were evaluated using EUROFIT-test battery and other validated tests.

Results

Overweight/obesity accounted for 32 % in our sample. PA level was significantly higher in boys than in girls and was associated with better performance in several PF tests in boys. Further, boys had a significant higher performance than girls in almost all HRPF evaluated (p < 0.05) except for sit-and-reach test, independently from PA level. Overweight/obesity specifically impaired performance in bent arm hang and one-half mile run–walk in boys. In addition, boys with higher WC values had poorer performance in 4 × 10 m shuttle run, flamingo balance and standing broad jump tests (p < 0.05). One-half mile run–walk test resulted significantly associated with higher WC values in a multiple linear regression analysis in boys (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

This study confirms an inverse relationship between overweight/obesity and PF. In particular, high WC values appeared to be strongly associated with poor aerobic performance in boys. Our results also suggest that the ½ mile run–walk test represents a useful test to identify children with a higher cardio-metabolic risk as represented by high abdominal adiposity.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank prof. Adele Barile and Antonella Cerino (Santa Maria di Costantinopoli secondary school, Naples) for their kind collaboration in this project.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

All institutional and national guidelines for the care of humans were followed according to the Helsinki Declaration. Informed consent was obtained from all parents of children for being included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Movement Sciences and Wellness, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Via Medina, 40, 80133, Naples, Italy

    Domenico Martone, Luca Russomando, Francesca Gallè, Valeria Gallarato, Caterina Mancusi, Roberto Mastronuzzi, Giuliana Valerio, Giorgio Liguori & Pasqualina Buono

  2. Ceinge Biotecnologie Avanzate S.c.ar.l. Naples, Napoli, Italy

    Domenico Martone & Pasqualina Buono

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  1. Domenico Martone
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Correspondence to Giuliana Valerio, Giorgio Liguori or Pasqualina Buono.

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Martone, D., Russomando, L., Gallè, F. et al. Effects of physical fitness on waist circumference in a group of school children living in Southern Italy. Sport Sci Health 10, 261–267 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-014-0206-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-014-0206-9

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