The “Fat but Fit” paradox in the academic context: relationship between physical fitness and weight status with adolescents’ academic achievement

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity 2021-01, Vol.45 (1), p.95-98
• Main Authors: Martinez-Zamora, Marcos D., Valenzuela, Pedro L., Pinto-Escalona, Tania, Martinez-de-Quel, Óscar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 692/308/174; 692/499; 692/700/1720; Academic achievement; Academic Success; Adolescent; Adolescents; Body mass index; Body size; Body weight; Body Weight - physiology; Brief Communication; Cardiorespiratory fitness; Child; Confidence intervals; Context; Cross-Sectional Studies; Educational aspects; Epidemiology; Female; Health aspects; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Humans; Internal Medicine; Male; Markers; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Obesity; Obesity in adolescence; Overweight; Paradoxes; Pediatric Obesity - epidemiology; Physical fitness; Physical Fitness - physiology; Psychological aspects; Public Health; Spain - epidemiology; Subgroups; Teenagers
• ISSN: 0307-0565; 1476-5497
• DOI: 10.1038/s41366-020-00666-5

The present study aimed to analyze the relationship between obesity and different physical fitness markers with academic achievement in adolescents, as well as to check if the “Fat but Fit paradox” is applicable in this context. A total of 188 participants (83 boys) ranging from 12 to 18 years (14.51 ± 1.29 years) underwent a series of fitness tests, and were categorized as “fit” or “unfit” attending to their estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (above or below 42 and 35 ml·kg −1 ·min −1 for boys and girls, respectively). Participants were also categorized according to their body mass index as having overweight/obesity or not. A variety of fitness markers (i.e., cardiorespiratory fitness, lower-body power, sprint time, and flexibility) were positively associated with academic achievement (all p