Exploring the relationship between adolescent biological maturation, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

Abstract

Objective: This systematic review aimed to summarize literature that examined the relationship between maturational timing, physical activity and sedentary behaviour in adolescents.Methods: Six electronic databases were searched for articles that assessed biological maturation and physical activity (including sports participation and active transportation) or sedentary behaviours in adolescents. Two reviewers conducted title, abstract, and full-text screening, reference and forward citation searches. Included articles were evaluated for quality using a standardized tool. A narrative synthesis was used to analyse the findings due to the heterogeneity of the studies.Results: Searches yielded 78 articles (64 unique studies) that met the inclusion criteria, representing 242,316 participants (153,179 unique).Studies ranged from 30.0% (low) to 91.7% (high) in quality. An inverse relationship between maturational timing and physical activity (in 50% and 60% of studies in boys and girls, respectively) and a positive relationship between maturational timing and sedentary behaviour (in 100% and 53% of studies in boys and girls, respectively) was most commonly reported. Evidence supporting an association between maturational timing, sport participation, and active transportation were inconsistent.Conclusions: While this review demonstrates some evidence for early maturational timing as a risk factor for disengagement from physical activity and increase in sedentary behaviours, the reviewed literature also demonstrates that this relationship is complex. Future research that tracks maturity-related variations in physical activity and sedentary behaviours over adolescence is warranted.

Soccer academy practitioners’ perceptions and application of bio-banding

“…Khamis and Roche [ 19 ]) and maturity offset (i.e. Fransen, Bush [ 10 ], Mirwald, Baxter-Jones [ 11 ], Moore, Cumming [ 45 ]) [ 32 ]. That said, although practitioners identify the associations between maturity-related changes in anthropometric characteristics and increased risk of injury risk [ 32 ], this study confirms previous findings [ 32 ] showing some uncertainty exists between practitioners regarding which of the maturity estimation methods they should use to estimate player maturity status.…”

Clusters of obesogenic behaviors and metabolic risk according to somatic maturity status among adolescents

“…Thus, the co-balance and synergies between other obesogenic behaviors should be greater promoted in order to maximize physical activity opportunities (e.g., decreasing screen time allow to physical activity time allocation). Age, years 12.9 (12.9; 13.0) 13.1 (12.9; 13.2)* 11.9 (11.8; 12.1) There is extensive literature highlighting the risks of early biological maturation for adolescent's health (Galvao et al, 2014;Li et al, 2021;Moore et al, 2020). The advance in the onset of maturation has also been associated with unhealthy behaviors, such as physical inactivity and unhealthy dietary habits (Bacil et al, 2016;Moore et al, 2020;Scaglioni et al, 2018), as well as with several markers of metabolic risk.…”

“…Age, years 12.9 (12.9; 13.0) 13.1 (12.9; 13.2)* 11.9 (11.8; 12.1) There is extensive literature highlighting the risks of early biological maturation for adolescent's health (Galvao et al, 2014;Li et al, 2021;Moore et al, 2020). The advance in the onset of maturation has also been associated with unhealthy behaviors, such as physical inactivity and unhealthy dietary habits (Bacil et al, 2016;Moore et al, 2020;Scaglioni et al, 2018), as well as with several markers of metabolic risk. The reasons for the poorer metabolic profile in early-maturing adolescents, include the anticipation of the natural aging process and increased body fat content, which can occur as a response to the maturation process and impact health behaviors and other markers of metabolic risk during adolescence (Kaplowitz, 2008;Werneck, Silva, Collings, et al, 2016).…”

“…There is extensive literature highlighting the risks of early biological maturation for adolescent's health (Galvao et al, 2014; Li et al, 2021; Moore et al, 2020). The advance in the onset of maturation has also been associated with unhealthy behaviors, such as physical inactivity and unhealthy dietary habits (Bacil et al, 2016; Moore et al, 2020; Scaglioni et al, 2018), as well as with several markers of metabolic risk.…”

The influence of sex and maturation on carotid and vertebral artery hemodynamics and associations with free-living (in)activity in 6–17-year-olds

“…We found no differences between pre-pubertal and pubertal children in the quantity of time each group engaged in short uninterrupted sedentary bouts (those <30 min); however, pubertal children spent significantly more time in longer uninterrupted sedentary bouts lasting 30-60 min and 60-120 min duration. A recent systematic review highlights the complexity of studying maturational timing, the age at which children enter puberty, potential relationships with engagement in physical activity and sedentary behavior (40). There is a lack of agreement on if/how maturational timing relates to habitual physical activity, but moderate agreement for an association between early maturation and increased sedentary behavior.…”