Estimated cardiorespiratory fitness in childhood and cardiometabolic health in adulthood: 1970 British Cohort Study

Abstract

Background Associations of cardiorespiratory fitness in childhood and adulthood with adult cardiometabolic risk factors are poorly understood, not least because of the paucity of studies. Objectives We investigated associations between nonexercise testing cardiorespiratory fitness (NETCRF) in childhood/adulthood and cardiometabolic risk factors in adulthood. Methods Based on an established algorithm comprising gender, age, body mass index, resting heart rate, and self‐reported physical activity at age 10, we computed NETCRF. Risk factors were assessed at age 46 in 5009 participants when NETCRF was again calculated. Linear regression was used to summarize associations between NETCRF in childhood and risk factors in adulthood and, additionally, the relationship between NETCRF in adulthood and risk factors in adulthood after adjusting for childhood NETCRF. Results Inconsistent associations were observed between childhood NETCRF and adult risk factors. NETCRF in adulthood was associated with blood pressure [−5.8 (−6.7, −4.9)], glycated hemoglobin [−3.41 (−4.06, −2.76)], total cholesterol [−0.16 (−0.24, −0.08)], HDL cholesterol [0.19 (0.16, 0.22)], triglycerides [−0.68 (−0.85, −0.50)], and C‐reactive protein [−0.29 (−0.35, −0.22)] in adult males. Similar associations were observed in adult females. Compared to those with low estimated fitness in both childhood and adulthood, participants with low fitness in childhood and high fitness in adulthood had a lower risk of two or more cardiometabolic risk factors (odds ratio: 0.25; 95% confidence interval: 0.19, 0.31). Conclusion Associations between estimated fitness and risk factors are stronger in adulthood than from childhood to adulthood. Adults with previously sedentary childhoods may still gain benefits from improving their fitness.

Secular Trends in Physical Fitness of Children and Adolescents: A Review of Large-Scale Epidemiological Studies Published after 2006

“…Monitoring of physical fitness (PF) in youth is important, because PF is known as one of the most relevant resources for health [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ] and is regarded as one of the foundations of an active lifestyle [ 5 ].…”

Secular trends in health-related physical fitness among 11–14-year-old Croatian children and adolescents from 1999 to 2014

“…Physical fitness is an important and one of the most relevant indicators of health and sports participation in young populations 1 – 3 . Evidence suggests that higher levels of physical fitness in childhood may prevent from developing some communicable and non-communicable diseases in adulthood 2 , 4 , 5 . Apart from general physical fitness, separate components of physical fitness (body composition, cardiorespiratory, muscular and motor) have been inversely associated with cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, stroke and all-cause mortality 6 – 8 .…”

Physical Fitness and Motor Competence in Upper Austrian Elementary School Children—Study Protocol and Preliminary Findings of a State-Wide Fitness Testing Program

“…Physical fitness and motor competence are considered key components for the development and general health in children and adolescents (Dwyer et al, 2009 ; Ruiz et al, 2009 ; Robinson et al, 2015 ; Hamer et al, 2020 ; Raghuveer et al, 2020 ). There is considerable evidence for beneficial associations of physical fitness with body weight (Ortega et al, 2008 ; Rauner et al, 2013 ), chronic disease risk (Ortega et al, 2008 ; Ruiz et al, 2009 ; Grøntved et al, 2015 ; Lang et al, 2018 ), cognitive development and academic performance (Ortega et al, 2008 ; Santana et al, 2017 ; Marques et al, 2018 ; Mintjens et al, 2018 ) as well as mental health (Ortega et al, 2008 ; Lubans et al, 2016 ).…”