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

Journal article

OBJECTIVE: To examine the changes over time in cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index (BMI) of children. DESIGN: Serial cross-sectional, population-based study. SETTING: Primary schools in Liverpool, UK. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 15,621 children (50% boys), representing 74% of eligible 9-11-year olds in the annual school cohorts between 1998/9 and 2003/4, who took part in a 20m multi-stage shuttle run test (20mMST). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Weight, height, BMI (kg/m(2)) and obesity using the International Obesity Taskforce definition. RESULTS: Median (95% confidence interval) 20mMST score (number of runs) fell in boys from 48.9 (47.9-49.9) in 1998/9 to 38.1 (36.8-39.4) in 2003/4, and in girls from 35.8 (35.0-36.6) to 28.1 (27.2-29.1) over the same period. Fitness scores fell across all strata of BMI (P<0.001). Moreover, BMI increased over the same 6-year period even among children in fittest third of 20mMST. CONCLUSION: In a series of uniform cross-sectional assessments of school-aged children, BMI increased whereas cardiorespiratory fitness levels decreased within a 6-year period. Even among lean children, fitness scores decreased. Public health measures to reduce obesity, such as increasing physical activity, may help raise fitness levels among all children - not just the overweight or obese.

Authors: Stratton, G; Canoy, D; Boddy, L; Taylor, SR; Hackett, A

• Journal: International journal of obesity (2005)
• Volume: 31
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 1172-1178
• Publication date: 2007-07-01
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0803562
• EISSN: 1476-5497
• ISSN: 0307-0565
• Language: English
• Keywords: Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; Humans; Physical Fitness; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Body Mass Index; Female; Male; Obesity; Child; England; Respiratory Physiological Phenomena; Cross-Sectional Studies; Overweight