The Temporal Association between Body Characteristics and Speed Performance over Twenty-Five Years in Italian Adolescents

Abstract

Background: Physical fitness (PF) is positively related to skeletal and metabolic health, and it had an inverse relation with obesity. Adolescents with obesity have the worst performance in PF and speed-agility (SA) that contributes to an augmented risk to develop pathologies. To the best of our knowledge, many studies analyzed the trends of obesity and SA separately, but there is a lack of data about SA ability trends in adolescents with obesity. We aimed to investigate SA trends in children with obesity in the last few decades to define the association between body weight and physical performance. Methods: We recruited 3.923 Caucasian children across the period 1985–2010 in the same school in Northern Italy, near Milan. Once a year, at the ages of 11–12- and 13-years-old, we collected anthropometric measures and SA performance. We pooled the data into 5-year-period study waves and then stratified our analysis into test-sex-age BMI-z-score specific groups. Results: We reported an undetermined trend across years. The 4×5 m run test significantly decreased in adolescents with overweight/obesity, while we did not report a decline in 30 m and 60 m run tests. Conclusions: Fitness tests highlighted differences in normal weight compared to overweight/obese children, suggesting that it is crucial to carefully monitor PF capacities through the years.

Secular trends in physical fitness of rural Chinese children and adolescents aged 7–18 years from 1985 to 2019

“…The trends in Slovenia are almost consistent with our study 15 , with speed quality first decreasing and then rebounding. However, studies from some developed countries 6,[38][39][40][41][42] showed different results that speed remained stable in children after 2000, having previously 43 . Our study also found that during the period 2010-2019, the speed of adolescents aged 16-18 years had no significant changes, and some studies also provided some evidence 35,44 .…”

“…Moreover, we found significant differences in speed items between countries, with straight-line dashes (e.g., 30/50/60-m dash) being related to the ability to move quickly; speed-agility (e.g., 10 × 5 m shuttle run) also included the ability to change body position/orientation quickly and accurately in response to stimuli 46 . Three types of speed were selected in Italy, and the results of dashes remained almost constant over the last 30 years, but the shuttle run declined 40 . Therefore, we estimate that the differences in secular trends in speed may be related to the test items, although it is known that speed is highly genetically determined 1 .…”

Benefits of Physical Exercise as Approach to Prevention and Reversion of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Children and Adolescents with Obesity

“…Despite established benefits of regular PA practice [ 18 , 123 ], children with obesity usually have lower levels of PA and physical fitness compared to peers [ 124 , 125 ] due to greater difficulties in performing different motor skills and negative feelings and self-esteem related to PA practice [ 126 , 127 ]. As demonstrated by Yu et al [ 128 ], pediatric subjects with obesity spent 30% less time engaging in PA pursuits and 51% more time in sedentary behaviors during time dedicated to waking activities.…”

Obesity Status and Physical Fitness Levels in Male and Female Portuguese Adolescents: A Two-Way Multivariate Analysis

“…Furthermore, boys aged 10 and 16 years showed higher rates of being physically unfit (with a small and moderate effect size, respectively) than girls, whereas girls aged 13 showed higher rates of being physically unfit (with a small effect size) than boys. A cohort study conducted by Vandoni et al [ 46 ] on 3923 Italian adolescents aged 11–13 years found that overweight and obese adolescents exhibited a slower 5-meter repeated running speed compared to healthy participants. It is well-known that running speed is a physical ability that is directly associated with good body composition [ 47 ], better school performance [ 45 ], and protection against metabolic syndrome [ 48 ].…”