Health-Related Physical Fitness in Adolescents from Spain, Estonia and Iceland : A Cross-Sectional, Quantitative Study

• Main Authors: Galan-Lopez, Pablo, Gísladóttir, Thordis, Pihu, Maret, Sánchez-Oliver, Antonio J., Ries, Francis, Domínguez, Raúl
• Other Authors: Faculty of Health Promotion, Sports and Leisure Studies
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: adolescence; habits; lifestyle; overweight; physical inactivity; sedentary; Orthopedics and Sports Medicine; Physical Therapy; Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation; Norway; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/3876; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports10120188

Funding Information: This work was supported by the fifth Research Program 2013–2016 (PPI2015-IV.5/PP2016- EBRV) of the University of Seville (Seville, Spain), the University of Iceland Research Fund (Reykjavik, Iceland) and project (2014-2021.1.05.20-0004) “Increasing the physical activity of schoolchildren”—funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-financed by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Republic of Estonia and the University of Tartu (Tartu, Estonia). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. 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 ...