Physical Activity, Fitness, and Adiposity of Prepubertal Girls
in Pediatric Exercise ScienceClick name to view affiliation
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between physical activity and physical fitness and adiposity in a sample of 77 girls, aged 10–11 years. Physical activity was assessed by 7-day physical activity recall by which children reported how much time they spent on low and moderate-to-vigorous physical activities. Physical fitness was measured by EUROFIT test battery. Adiposity was estimated by sum of five skinfolds. The main finding of the study was that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and adiposity were significant predictors (with 16–34% accounted variance) of physical fitness tests where the body mass affects performance. Indicators of physical activity and adiposity were not significantly related with fitness items requiring muscular strength, balance, flexibility, and speed of limb movement. Furthermore, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and aerobic fitness predicted 22% of variance in adiposity in girls.
Lennart Raudsepp and Toivo Jürimäe are with the Institute of Sport Pedagogy at the University of Tartu, 18 Ülikooli Street, Tartu, Estonia EE 2400.
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