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Research Article
Natalia María Arias Palencia
Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha Facultad de Educacion
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5004-3197
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background
Physical Activity (PA), body composition and fitness in children has been associated with short and long-term health benefits. However, little research that analizes these variables focuses on the Preschool Education stage. For this reason, the aim of this research is to study the relationship between PA, fatness and fitness in the Preschool Education stage (3-6 years).
Methods
This study included 230 children (109 boys and 121 girls) aged 3 to 5 years old with a mean age of 4.92±0.84. Body composition and fitness were assessed using PREFIT battery and a sit and reach test. For the multiple linear regression models of this study, we only included a total of 151 (65.65%) children in which PA levels were measured using accelerometers for seven days.
Results
There were differences in the fitness test between boys and girls. There were not significant differences in fitness tests between normal-weight and over-weight children, except in handgrip strength in which over-weight children had better results. There was no significant association between body composition and PA subcomponents. Higher PA levels were related with better physical fitness values.
Discussion
The few studies that have studied the relationship between fatness, physical fitness and PA in Preschool have had controversial results. These differences might be caused by different reasons: different tests, age of the participants, sample size, study design, etc. were used.
Conclusions
PA is associated with better physical fitness performance in Preschool children, although fitness is also influenced by sex in these ages. Thus, generally, except in the case of flexibility, boys obtained better results in fitness tests than girls. However, body composition does not seem to be related to PA or sex in Preschool children.
Keywords
Physical Activity, Physical Fitness, Fatness, Preschool, Children, Sex
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This is a preprint. It has not completed peer review.
Research Article
Natalia María Arias Palencia
Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha Facultad de Educacion
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5004-3197
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Posted
Version 1
Posted 18 Feb, 2021
No community comments so far
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Internal Medicine
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background
Physical Activity (PA), body composition and fitness in children has been associated with short and long-term health benefits. However, little research that analizes these variables focuses on the Preschool Education stage. For this reason, the aim of this research is to study the relationship between PA, fatness and fitness in the Preschool Education stage (3-6 years).
Methods
This study included 230 children (109 boys and 121 girls) aged 3 to 5 years old with a mean age of 4.92±0.84. Body composition and fitness were assessed using PREFIT battery and a sit and reach test. For the multiple linear regression models of this study, we only included a total of 151 (65.65%) children in which PA levels were measured using accelerometers for seven days.
Results
There were differences in the fitness test between boys and girls. There were not significant differences in fitness tests between normal-weight and over-weight children, except in handgrip strength in which over-weight children had better results. There was no significant association between body composition and PA subcomponents. Higher PA levels were related with better physical fitness values.
Discussion
The few studies that have studied the relationship between fatness, physical fitness and PA in Preschool have had controversial results. These differences might be caused by different reasons: different tests, age of the participants, sample size, study design, etc. were used.
Conclusions
PA is associated with better physical fitness performance in Preschool children, although fitness is also influenced by sex in these ages. Thus, generally, except in the case of flexibility, boys obtained better results in fitness tests than girls. However, body composition does not seem to be related to PA or sex in Preschool children.
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