We estimated perceived difficulty with physical tasks, lifestyle, and physical performance in 382 children and adolescents (163 obese, 54 overweight, and 165 normal-weight subjects) and the relationship between perceived physical difficulties and sports participation, sedentary behaviors, or physical performance. Perceived difficulty with physical tasks and lifestyle habits was assessed by interview using a structured questionnaire, while physical performance was assessed through the six-minute walking test (6MWT). Obese children had higher perceived difficulty with several activities of daily living, were less engaged in sports, and had lower physical performance than normal-weight or overweight children; on the contrary, they did not differ with regard to time spent in sedentary behaviors. Perceived difficulty in running and hopping negatively predicted sports participation (P < 0.05 and <0.01, resp.), while perceived difficulty in almost all physical activities negatively predicted the 6MWT, independently of BMI (P < 0.01). Our results indicate that perception of task's difficulty level may reflect an actual difficulty in obese children. These findings may have practical implications for approaching physical activity in obese children. Exploring both the perception of a task's difficulty level and physical performance may be useful to design exercise programs that allow safe and successful participation.
Abstract\ud Purpose Physical fitness (PF) is considered an important\ud health marker already in youth with positive influence on\ud adult health. The aim of this study was to investigate the\ud effects of overweight/obesity on most relevant healthrelated\ud physical fitness (HRPF) components in a group of\ud school-age children.\ud Methods One hundred and thirteen children (49 male; 64\ud female; 11–13 years) living in Naples were recruited for\ud the study. Height, weight, waist circumference (WC) and\ud Body Mass Index (BMI) were measured. Physical activity\ud (PA) level and sedentary time were determined by a standard\ud 7-day recall questionnaire. HRPF components were\ud evaluated using EUROFIT-test battery and other validated\ud tests.\ud Results Overweight/obesity accounted for 32 % in our\ud sample. PA level was significantly higher in boys than in\ud girls and was associated with better performance in several\ud PF tests in boys. Further, boys had a significant higher\ud performance than girls in almost all HRPF evaluated\ud (p\0.05) except for sit-and-reach test, independently\ud from PA level. Overweight/obesity specifically impaired\ud performance in bent arm hang and one-half mile run–walk\ud in boys. In addition, boys with higher WC values had\ud poorer performance in 4 9 10 m shuttle run, flamingo\ud balance and standing broad jump tests (p\0.05). One-half\ud mile run–walk test resulted significantly associated with\ud higher WC values in a multiple linear regression analysis in\ud boys (p\0.05).\ud Conclusions This study confirms an inverse relationship\ud between overweight/obesity and PF. In particular, high WC\ud values appeared to be strongly associated with poor aerobic\ud performance in boys. Our results also suggest that the\ud mile run–walk test represents a useful test to identify\ud children with a higher cardio-metabolic risk as represented\ud by high abdominal adiposity
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.