Health-Related Physical Fitness in Adolescents from Spain, Estonia and Iceland: A Cross-Sectional, Quantitative Study
The benefits of physical fitness (PF) for health are well-known. Low PF significantly contributes to the prevalence of obesity in adolescents, with an increased risk of developing chronic diseases. The objectives of the present study were to explore the health-related PF components and body composit...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2075-4663/10/12/188/ 2023-08-20T04:07:26+02:00 Health-Related Physical Fitness in Adolescents from Spain, Estonia and Iceland: A Cross-Sectional, Quantitative Study Pablo Galan-Lopez Thordis Gísladóttir Maret Pihu Antonio J. Sánchez-Oliver Francis Ries Raúl Domínguez 2022-11-22 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/sports10120188 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/sports10120188 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Sports; Volume 10; Issue 12; Pages: 188 adolescence habits lifestyle overweight physical inactivity sedentary Text 2022 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/sports10120188 2023-08-01T07:27:48Z The benefits of physical fitness (PF) for health are well-known. Low PF significantly contributes to the prevalence of obesity in adolescents, with an increased risk of developing chronic diseases. The objectives of the present study were to explore the health-related PF components and body composition levels in adolescents in three European cities, and their differences. The present study is a cross-sectional, descriptive, and quantitative research effort with 1717 participants aged between 13–16 years (48% girls), enrolled in public and private secondary schools in Seville (Spain), Reykjavik (Iceland) and Tartu (Estonia). The ALPHA fitness battery test was used with the following tests: handgrip strength, standing broad jump, 4 × 10 m speed-agility, 20 m shuttle run, and anthropometric variables. Regarding body composition, differences were detected for city and gender in height (p < 0.001), weight (p < 0.001), body fat percentage (p < 0.001), and waist circumference (p < 0.001); but no differences were reported for BMI for both city (p = 0.150) and gender (p = 0.738). Similarly, concerning PF, it was detected statistically significant differences between cities and gender in handgrip strength (p < 0.001), jump test (p < 0.001), speed-agility test (p < 0.001), and cardiovascular endurance in both variables (p < 0.001). In total, 26.8% of the boys and 27.3% of the girls were categorized as overweight; 18.1% of the boys and 31.2% of the girls had an excessive percentage of fat mass; and 22.7% of the boys and 22.2% of the girls showed an excessive waist circumference. The participants from Seville presented the lowest results in PF tests. In contrast, Reykjavik, with the highest results in the endurance and speed-agility tests, and Tartu, with higher results in the manual grip strength and long jump tests, shared the highest results. Text Iceland MDPI Open Access Publishing Sports 10 12 188 |
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English |
topic |
adolescence habits lifestyle overweight physical inactivity sedentary |
spellingShingle |
adolescence habits lifestyle overweight physical inactivity sedentary Pablo Galan-Lopez Thordis Gísladóttir Maret Pihu Antonio J. Sánchez-Oliver Francis Ries Raúl Domínguez Health-Related Physical Fitness in Adolescents from Spain, Estonia and Iceland: A Cross-Sectional, Quantitative Study |
topic_facet |
adolescence habits lifestyle overweight physical inactivity sedentary |
description |
The benefits of physical fitness (PF) for health are well-known. Low PF significantly contributes to the prevalence of obesity in adolescents, with an increased risk of developing chronic diseases. The objectives of the present study were to explore the health-related PF components and body composition levels in adolescents in three European cities, and their differences. The present study is a cross-sectional, descriptive, and quantitative research effort with 1717 participants aged between 13–16 years (48% girls), enrolled in public and private secondary schools in Seville (Spain), Reykjavik (Iceland) and Tartu (Estonia). The ALPHA fitness battery test was used with the following tests: handgrip strength, standing broad jump, 4 × 10 m speed-agility, 20 m shuttle run, and anthropometric variables. Regarding body composition, differences were detected for city and gender in height (p < 0.001), weight (p < 0.001), body fat percentage (p < 0.001), and waist circumference (p < 0.001); but no differences were reported for BMI for both city (p = 0.150) and gender (p = 0.738). Similarly, concerning PF, it was detected statistically significant differences between cities and gender in handgrip strength (p < 0.001), jump test (p < 0.001), speed-agility test (p < 0.001), and cardiovascular endurance in both variables (p < 0.001). In total, 26.8% of the boys and 27.3% of the girls were categorized as overweight; 18.1% of the boys and 31.2% of the girls had an excessive percentage of fat mass; and 22.7% of the boys and 22.2% of the girls showed an excessive waist circumference. The participants from Seville presented the lowest results in PF tests. In contrast, Reykjavik, with the highest results in the endurance and speed-agility tests, and Tartu, with higher results in the manual grip strength and long jump tests, shared the highest results. |
format |
Text |
author |
Pablo Galan-Lopez Thordis Gísladóttir Maret Pihu Antonio J. Sánchez-Oliver Francis Ries Raúl Domínguez |
author_facet |
Pablo Galan-Lopez Thordis Gísladóttir Maret Pihu Antonio J. Sánchez-Oliver Francis Ries Raúl Domínguez |
author_sort |
Pablo Galan-Lopez |
title |
Health-Related Physical Fitness in Adolescents from Spain, Estonia and Iceland: A Cross-Sectional, Quantitative Study |
title_short |
Health-Related Physical Fitness in Adolescents from Spain, Estonia and Iceland: A Cross-Sectional, Quantitative Study |
title_full |
Health-Related Physical Fitness in Adolescents from Spain, Estonia and Iceland: A Cross-Sectional, Quantitative Study |
title_fullStr |
Health-Related Physical Fitness in Adolescents from Spain, Estonia and Iceland: A Cross-Sectional, Quantitative Study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Health-Related Physical Fitness in Adolescents from Spain, Estonia and Iceland: A Cross-Sectional, Quantitative Study |
title_sort |
health-related physical fitness in adolescents from spain, estonia and iceland: a cross-sectional, quantitative study |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/sports10120188 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Sports; Volume 10; Issue 12; Pages: 188 |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/sports10120188 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/sports10120188 |
container_title |
Sports |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
12 |
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188 |
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