Aerobic fitness and somatic growth in adolescents : a cross sectional investigation in a high school context

AIM: A cross-sectional investigation to study the relations between aerobic fitness and somatic growth of Italian adolescents within a school context. METHODS: The Leger and Lambert 20-m shuttle run test scores were used to estimate the oxygen uptake (VO(2max)) of 290 high school adolescent students aged 14-18 years. Descriptive statistics of body mass, standing height, body mass index (BMI) and of predicted VO(2max) were calculated within age and sex group. RESULTS: Body mass and standing height were significantly larger in males than in females, and significantly increased with age (P<0.002, analysis of variance). For standing height, a significant sex age interaction was found (P=0.0004), with a larger age-related increment in males than in females. No significant differences in BMI were found. VO(2max) was significantly influenced by sex and age. The age-related decrement in VO(2max) was larger in females than in males (P=0.001). Predicted VO(2max) was significantly related to BMI (males: r=-0.41; females: r=-0.336) and to body mass (females: r=-0.34; males: r=-0.352). A negative relationship between BMI and VO(2max) was found also in the overweight adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: In both sexes, aerobic fitness declined with age. The decline was particularly evident in females. Low-cost methods to detect the nutritional level and aerobic performance of adolescents should be encouraged at school.