Physical Fitness and Body Composition in 10–12-Year-Old Danish Children in Relation to Leisure-Time Club-Based Sporting Activities

• Published in: BioMed research international 2018-01, Vol.2018 (2018), p.1-8
• Main Authors: Ottesen, L., Krustrup, Peter, Elbe, Anne-Marie, Hansen, Lone, Møller, Andreas, Lundager, I., Sandager, Lene, Madsen, Mads, Larsen, M. N., Ørntoft, Christina, Madsen, Esben E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Blood pressure; Body composition; Body mass; Cardiovascular disease; Children; Children & youth; Exercise; Football; Games; Girls; Heart rate; Lean body mass; Leisure; Metabolism; Muscles; Nutrition; Participation; Physical fitness; Slopes; Sports & recreation clubs; Studies; Team sports
• ISSN: 2314-6133; 2314-6141
• DOI: 10.1155/2018/9807569

This study investigated whether the physical fitness and body composition of 10–12-year-old Danish children are related to participation in leisure-time club-based sporting activities. The study involved 544 Danish 10–12-year-old 5th-grade municipal schoolchildren (269 boys and 275 girls, 11.1 ± 0.4 years). After answering a questionnaire about leisure-time sporting activities, the children were divided into four groups: football club participation (FC; n=141), other ball games (OBG; n=42), other sports (OS; n=194), and no sports-club participation (NSC; n=167). The children completed a battery of health and fitness tests, including a 20 m sprint test, a standing long-jump test, the Yo-Yo IR1 children’s test (YYIR1C), and body composition, blood pressure, resting heart rate (HRrest), and the flamingo balance test. The children engaged in club-based ball games (FC and OBG) had higher (p