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High cardiorespiratory fitness is inversely associated with incidence of overweight in adolescence: A longitudinal study
Author(s) -
Savva S. C.,
Tornaritis M. J.,
Kolokotroni O.,
Chadjigeorgiou C.,
Kourides Y.,
Karpathios T.,
Yiallouros P. K.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.575
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1600-0838
pISSN - 0905-7188
DOI - 10.1111/sms.12097
Subject(s) - overweight , cardiorespiratory fitness , medicine , quartile , incidence (geometry) , body mass index , obesity , odds ratio , confidence interval , cohort , demography , physical therapy , physics , sociology , optics
To assess the association of baseline cardiorespiratory fitness ( CRF ) with incidence of overweight over a 4.6‐year period in adolescence. In a cohort of 4878 adolescents, we assessed body mass index in years 2001–2003 and 2007. CRF was assessed at baseline as maximal oxygen consumption ( VO 2max , mL/kg/min) using the 20‐m shuttle run test and was examined against incidence of overweight at follow‐up. Estimated VO 2max at baseline was higher in males than in females, P < 0.001, and was lower in overweight and obese than in non‐overweight subjects. The incidence of overweight at follow‐up among non‐overweight participants at baseline was 15.5% [95% confidence interval ( CI ) 13.7% to 17.3%] in males and 5.6% (95% CI 4.9% to 7.0%) in females, P < 0.001. Adjusted odds ratio for incidence of overweight in participants in the fourth quartile of VO 2max was 0.40 (95% CI 0.26 to 0.61) in males and 0.57 (95% CI 0.33 to 0.99) in females in comparison with participants in the first quartiles of VO 2max . Incidence of overweight was three times more frequent in males than in females. Among non‐overweight at baseline, high fitness levels were inversely associated with incidence of overweight at follow‐up, suggesting that interventions aiming to increase CRF in early childhood might help reverse increasing trends in obesity.