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Measures of cardiorespiratory fitness in relation to measures of body size and composition among children
Author(s) -
Tompuri Tuomo,
Lintu Niina,
Savonen Kai,
Laitinen Tomi,
Laaksonen David,
Jääskeläinen Jarmo,
Lakka Timo A.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
clinical physiology and functional imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.608
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-097X
pISSN - 1475-0961
DOI - 10.1111/cpf.12185
Subject(s) - cardiorespiratory fitness , lean body mass , vo2 max , medicine , linear regression , physical fitness , stepwise regression , body weight , zoology , physical therapy , demography , mathematics , heart rate , statistics , blood pressure , biology , sociology
Summary Background In the exercise testing measures of cardiorespiratory fitness need to be scaled by body size or composition to enable comparison between individuals. Traditionally used weight‐proportional measures are potentially confounded by body adiposity that hampers their interpretation and applicability in the clinical assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness. Objective We aimed to find the most appropriate measure of body size or composition for scaling of measures of cardiorespiratory fitness among children. Methods We assessed body weight and height, maximal workload ( W MAX ) and maximal oxygen uptake ( VO 2 MAX ) using cycle ergometer exercise test with respiratory gas analysis and body lean mass ( LM ) and fat mass ( FM ) by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry and by bioimpedance analysis among 38 children. The data were analysed using Pearson's coefficients for correlation and stepwise linear regression models. Results Lean mass ( r > 0·54) and height ( r > 0·51) had stronger positive correlations with absolute W MAX and VO 2 MAX than weight ( r > 0·30) in girls and boys. None of the measures of body size or composition correlated with LM ‐proportional W MAX or VO 2 MAX in girls or boys. Only LM correlated positively with height‐proportional W MAX ( r = 0·65) and VO 2 MAX ( r = 0·71) in boys. FM correlated negatively with weight‐proportional W MAX ( r < −0·58) and VO 2 MAX ( r < −0·64) in girls and boys. FM was even stronger determinant of weight‐proportional W MAX (β = −0·68) and VO 2 MAX (β = −0·61) than exercise performance in multivariate linear regression models. Conclusions While assessing cardiorespiratory fitness, LM is the most appropriate measure of body size or composition for scaling of W MAX and VO 2 MAX , because scaling by body weight introduces confounding by body adiposity.