1. Physical Fitness and Anthropometric Values Among Lithuanian Primary School Children: Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study.
- Author
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Emeljanovas, Arunas, Mieziene, Brigita, Cesnaitiene, Vida Janina, Fjortoft, Ingunn, and Kjønniksen, Lise
- Subjects
ARM physiology ,AGE distribution ,ANALYSIS of variance ,ANTHROPOMETRY ,EXERCISE tests ,JUMPING ,MOTOR ability ,MUSCLE strength ,PHYSICAL fitness ,REFERENCE values ,RUNNING ,SCHOOL children ,SEX distribution ,T-test (Statistics) ,BODY movement ,THROWING (Sports) ,CROSS-sectional method ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,CARDIOPULMONARY fitness - Abstract
The purpose of the current studywas to derive representative reference scores on anthropometricmeasures and test scores for themusculoskeletal,motor,and cardiorespiratory fitness of Lithuanian primary school children according to age and sex. This cross-sectional design study included ×,456 Lithuanian first- to fourth-grade children from age 6 to 10 years. Physical fitness was measured using a nine-item test battery developed by FjØrtoft et al. The test battery included the following tests: standing broad jump (explosive strength), jumping a distance of 7 m on 2 feet, jumping a distance of 7 m on 1 foot (both tests indicate leg muscle strength), throwing a tennis ball with one hand, andpushing a medicine ball with 2 hands (both tests indicate armmuscle strength). These tests measured musculoskeletal fitness. In addition,there were measures of a 10 × 5-m shuttle run (agility), running 20 m as fast as possible (speed), and climbing wall bars(coordination) general tests of motor fitness. Reduced 6-minute Cooper test (endurance) measured cardiorespiratory fitness. A Student‘st test and analysis of variance were performed to indicate differences between sexes and across age, respectively. The significantdifferences in mean scores in anthropometric and fitness means indicated that boys had higher scores than girls, and older childrenscored higher than younger children (p < 0.05). Data on normative sex and age specific percentile values (3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th,90th, and 97th) for physical fitness tests in Lithuanian primary school children are provided. These data are useful for educational settings,parents, clinicians, sports organizations, and sports clubs in identifying problems or outstanding performance and providing sportsprograms that develop children‘s athletic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
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