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A high level of physical fitness in childhood and adolescence is associated with more favorable physical and mental health outcomes. Objective: To compare body adiposity and horizontal jump performance with international studies and to analyze the relationship between body adiposity and horizontal jump performance indicators in children and adolescents. Patients and Method: Descriptive study conducted on 812 adolescents from Talca (Chile), with an age range between 10.0 and 16.9 years. Weight, height, waist circumference (WC) and Horizontal jump (HJ) were evaluated after warm-up for 10 to 15 minutes to evaluate the explosive strength of the lower extremities according to the protocol of Castro-Piñero et al. Adiposity and HJ were compared with national and international studies. The data normality was verified by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Smoothed percentile curves (p50) were created for BMI, WC, and HJ for each gender according to the LMS method. Results: Adolescents showed differences in body adiposity and HJ performance with international studies. In both genders, negative and significant correlations were found between the BMI and the HJ (men r =-0.104 and women r =-0.149) and between the WC and the HJ (men r =-0.100 and women r =-0.131). The adolescents who were classified in tertile 1 (good) and tertile 2 (satisfactory) had lower body adiposity (BMI and WC) and better HJ performance than those in tertile 3 (poor). Conclusion: Higher body adiposity and lower HJ performance were observed compared to international studies. In addition, a negative relationship between body adiposity and HJ was found. These findings suggest that the progressive increase of adiposity as age increases negatively affects the strength performance of the lower extremities of the studied children and adolescents.

Objectives: Anthropometric variables are used to evaluate health, dietary status, disease risks, and changes in body composition. The purpose of this study was to compare weight, height, and Body Mass Index (BMI) with American references from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS-2012), using BMI and Tri-Ponderal Mass Index (TMI) to propose percentiles for evaluating nutritional status of children, adolescents, and adults, ages 5–80 years old.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 15,436 (8,070 males and 7,366 females) children, youths and adults in the Maule region (Chile). The age range ranged from 5.0 to ~80 years of age. Weight and height were assessed. Body mass index BMI and tri-ponderal mass index (TMI) were calculated. The LMS method was used to generate percentiles.Results: The results illustrated that children were heavier and had more BMI during childhood compared to the NCHS references. During adolescence, reference values were greater until approximately ages 70–79. For height, children were relatively similar to those of the NCHS references, but during adolescence, differences became evident. Adolescence until approximately age 80, the population showed lower values for height. Percentiles were calculated using BMI and TMI by age range and sex. Differences occurred between the American NCHS references and the population with regard to the anthropometric variables of weight, height, and in BMI.Conclusion: Discrepancies with the American NCHS reference were verified in the anthropometric variables of weight, height and BMI. Reference percentiles of BMI and TMI were developed for the evaluation of the nutritional status of the regional population of Maule (Chile). Its use is suggested in clinical and epidemiological contexts.

Estimación de la masa grasa por medio de indicadores antropométricos en jóvenes con síndrome de Down Estimation of fat mass by anthropometric indicators in young people with Down syndrome

La aptitud física es uno de los marcadores de salud importantes como predictor de morbilidad y mortalidad de enfermedades cardiovasculares. Objetivos: Evaluar la relación entre masa grasa con indicadores antropométricos y comparar el desempeño de la aptitud física entre niños y adolescentes categorizados con adecuado y exceso de masa grasa. Sujetos y Método: estudio transversal descriptivo en 863 escolares entre 6 a 17,9 años. Se midió el peso, estatura, circunferencia de cintura. Se evaluó la aptitud física (velocidad, agilidad y salto horizontal). Se calculó la masa grasa por ecuación antropométrica, se calculó el índice de masa corporal, índice ponderal, e índice cintura estatura. Se agruparon los datos por edad en 6 grupos. Resultados: Los niños de ambos sexos categorizados con adecuados niveles de masa grasa presentaron valores inferiores de índice de masa corporal, índice ponderal e índice cintura estatura en relación a los niños con elevados niveles de masa grasa. En la aptitud física, los niños con masa grasa adecuada fueron mejores que sus contrapartes con masa grasa elevada. En las niñas con masa grasa adecuada, se observó mejores resultados en el salto horizonty agilidad durante la adolescencia. No hubo diferencias en la prueba de velocidad. Conclusión: La masa grasa puede ser considerada como una herramienta valiosa para determinar el exceso de grasa corporal y categorizar a niños y adolescentes con adecuado y exceso de masa grasa. Además, presentar niveles aceptables de masa grasa puede contribuir a una mejor forma física en los niños en el salto horizontal, agilidad y velocidad y en las niñas únicamente en el salto horizontal y agilidad