Discussion of “Establishing modified Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test (mCAFT) cut-points to detect clustered cardiometabolic risk among Canadian children and youth aged 9 to 17 years” – The need for foundational fitness research in Canada: is there room for innovation?

Tremblay, Mark S.; Tomkinson, Grant R.

doi:10.1139/apnm-2019-0556

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Although the criterion-referenced evaluation framework is less restricted by limitations compared to the norm-referenced approach in the health-related context, it has to deal with the substantial challenge of setting appropriate standards and cut-off points [26,27,29]. In addition to the challenge of setting test standards, the test characteristics validity, reliability, and the estimation of domain scores have strong influence on the value of a motor test [43,89]. These aspects need to be considered at least similarly in the standard setting process of motor tests.…”

Section: Determination Of Criterion-referenced Standards In Health-related Motor Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health-Related Motor Testing of Children in Primary School: A Systematic Review of Criterion-Referenced Standards

et al. 2021

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Being physically fit in younger years prevents several diseases in the presence as well as in the life course. Therefore, monitoring physical fitness and motor competence through motor testing is essential for determining developmental status and identifying health-related risks. The main objectives of this systematic review were (1) to identify currently available health-related criterion-referenced standards and cut-off points for physical fitness and motor competence test items, (2) to frame the methodological background on setting health-related criterion-referenced standards and (3) to give implications for a health-related evaluation system for physical fitness and motor competence tests. The electronic data base search (PubMed, Web of Science and SURF) yielded 2062 records in total and identified six empirical studies reporting cut-off points of motor test items for children (7–10 years), as well as 30 methodological papers discussing determination approaches to health-related criterion-referenced standards. Data collection, selection and analyses followed the PRISMA guidelines. Health-related motor test standards need to be gender- and age-specific but should refer to an absolute cut-off point rather than to relative performance in the reference group. Due to the lack of data on health-related criterion referenced standards, receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curves provide a tool for the determination of cut-off points and criterion referenced standards for physical fitness and motor competence tests. A standardized approach forms the fundamental base for a globally applicable evaluation of health-related fitness tests.

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Section: Determination Of Criterion-referenced Standards In Health-related Motor Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health-Related Motor Testing of Children in Primary School: A Systematic Review of Criterion-Referenced Standards

et al. 2021

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“…In their editorial, Tremblay and Tomkinson (2020) provided a critical reflection on the modified Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test (mCAFT) and its use in Canadian children and youth. They highlighted that (i) the validity and reliability evidence for the test is outdated in adults and nonexistent in children and youth aged <15 years; (ii) the background validation evidence for the test and prediction equation to estimate peak oxygen consumption (V O 2peak ) is often cited incorrectly in the literature; (iii) the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) exclusion criteria for the mCAFT were very strict and may bias the results; (iv) the mCAFT may not properly control for body weight when estimating V O 2peak ; and (v) using the mCAFT in research on temporal trends and international comparisons in cardiorespiratory fitness is difficult (Tremblay and Tomkinson 2020). While many of the issues raised have merit, we hope to clarify our position for publishing our mCAFT cut-points in Canadian children and youth (Lang et al 2020).…”

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Reply to Discussion of “Establishing modified Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test (mCAFT) cut-points to detect clustered cardiometabolic risk among Canadian children and youth aged 9 to 17 years” – The need for foundational fitness research in Canada: is there room for innovation?

Lang

Phillips

Hoffmann

et al. 2020

Appl. Physiol. Nutr. Metab.

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In their editorial, Tremblay and Tomkinson (2020) provided a critical reflection on the modified Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test (mCAFT) and its use in Canadian children and youth. They highlighted that (i) the validity and reliability evidence for the test is outdated in adults and nonexistent in children and youth aged <15 years; (ii) the background validation evidence for the test and prediction equation to estimate peak oxygen consumption (V O 2peak ) is often cited incorrectly in the literature; (iii) the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) exclusion criteria for the mCAFT were very strict and may bias the results; (iv) the mCAFT may not properly control for body weight when estimating V O 2peak ; and (v) using the mCAFT in research on temporal trends and international comparisons in cardiorespiratory fitness is difficult (Tremblay and Tomkinson 2020). While many of the issues raised have merit, we hope to clarify our position for publishing our mCAFT cut-points in Canadian children and youth (Lang et al. 2020). We also want to take this opportunity to highlight the expanding debate in the cardiorespiratory fitness literature which points toward a clear need for innovation and change.In our paper published in this issue (Lang et al. 2020) we established mCAFT cut-points to identify Canadian children and youth at increased risk of poor cardiometabolic health. We used established statistical methods in a large nationally representative sample of Canadians and obtained cut-point values that are considered high (males: 49-46 mL·kg −1 ·min −1 ; females 46-37 mL·kg −1 ·min −1 ) in comparison with previously identified international cut-points obtained using different field-based tests of cardiorespiratory fitness (males: ϳ42 mL·kg −1 ·min −1 ; females: ϳ35 mL·kg −1 ·min −1 ; Ruiz et al. 2016). These results were of concern to us. Furthermore, the mean mCAFT values obtained from the examined CHMS sample were substantially higher than values observed from the pooling of over one million 20-m shuttle-run test scores (Tomkinson et al. 2017). Upon further investigation our conclusions were similar to what Tremblay and Tomkinson concluded: the high mCAFT cut-points may have resulted from the exclusion criteria and/or the validity of the test.Although strict exclusion criteria holds merit, we were less concerned about this scenario given the fact that previous research involving the CHMS identified only small differences in body mass index between those included (23.2 kg·m −2 ) and excluded (24.1 kg·m −2 ) from the mCAFT (Tremblay et al. 2010). Slightly more problematic was the unresolved validity of the mCAFT in children aged <15 years. However, the importance of construct validity (i.e., the ability of the test to provide an accurate representation of what it purports to measure, in this case, V O 2peak in mL·kg −1 ·min −1 ) is relative to the objective of the research. For instance, it is very important to have strong construct validity (i.e., the ability to accurately predict V O 2peak ) when comparing results with ...

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Discussion of “Establishing modified Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test (mCAFT) cut-points to detect clustered cardiometabolic risk among Canadian children and youth aged 9 to 17 years” – The need for foundational fitness research in Canada: is there room for innovation?

Cited by 2 publications

References 6 publications

Health-Related Motor Testing of Children in Primary School: A Systematic Review of Criterion-Referenced Standards

Health-Related Motor Testing of Children in Primary School: A Systematic Review of Criterion-Referenced Standards

Reply to Discussion of “Establishing modified Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test (mCAFT) cut-points to detect clustered cardiometabolic risk among Canadian children and youth aged 9 to 17 years” – The need for foundational fitness research in Canada: is there room for innovation?

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