Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Physical Activity among Children and Adolescents: 3-Year Longitudinal Study in Brazil

Diego Augusto Santos Silva; Eliane Cristina de Andrade Gonçalves; Emerson Filipino Coelho; Matheus Santos Cerqueira; Francisco Zacaron Werneck

doi:10.3390/ijerph191811431

Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Physical Activity among Children and Adolescents: 3-Year Longitudinal Study in Brazil

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Sep 11;19(18):11431. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191811431.

Authors

Diego Augusto Santos Silva^{1

2}, Eliane Cristina de Andrade Gonçalves³, Emerson Filipino Coelho⁴, Matheus Santos Cerqueira⁵, Francisco Zacaron Werneck⁴

Affiliations

¹ Núcleo de Pesquisa em Cineantropometria e Desempenho Humano, Departamento de Educação Física, Centro de Desportos, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88040-900, SC, Brazil.
² Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Providencia 7500912, Chile.
³ Departamento de Educação Física, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá 87020-900, PR, Brazil.
⁴ Laboratório de Estudos e Pesquisas do Exercício e Esporte, Escola de Educação Física, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto 35400-000, MG, Brazil.
⁵ Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Sudeste de Minas Gerais-Campus Rio Pomba, Rio Pomba 36180-000, MG, Brazil.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of physical activity (PA) levels over 36 months on the cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) of children and adolescents. This was a longitudinal study carried out from 2016 to 2019 with 127 children and adolescents (82 males and 45 females) aged 13.5 ± 1.2 years at baseline. The 20 m shuttle run test (20 mSRT) was used to predict CRF. The questionnaires PAQ-C and PAQ-A were used to investigate PA. The 2 × 4 repeated measures ANCOVA was used, and the significance level was p ≤ 0.05. There was a linear trend in the interaction between level of PA and CRF throughout the 36-month study period in both sexes (males-distance covered: F1.78 = 4.567; p = 0.04; VO_2max: F1.78 = 5.323; p = 0.02; females-distance covered: F1.41 = 6.989; p = 0.01; VO_2max: F1.41 = 6.585; p = 0.01). Physically active males showed a gradual increase in CRF throughout the analyzed period. For females, CRF remained constant in the first 24 months, showing a slight increase only after 36 months in physically active ones. The findings of this study reinforce the importance of PA throughout childhood and adolescence to improve CRF.

Keywords: adolescent health; exercise; physical fitness.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Brazil
Cardiorespiratory Fitness*
Child
Exercise
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Physical Fitness

Grants and funding

Diego Augusto Santos Silva was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)—Brazil—Finance Code 001 and Diego Augusto Santos Silva is supported in part by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)—Brazil—No. 309589/2021-5.