Secular trends in muscular fitness from 1983 to 2014 among Slovenian children and adolescents

Đurić, Saša (author), Sember, Vedrana (author), Starc, Gregor (author), Sorić, Maroje (author), Kovač, Marjeta (author), Jurak, Gregor (author)

Low physical fitness has been found to be associated with many chronic diseases and medical conditions. Knowledge of secular trends in physical fitness is important to initiate countermeasures for addressing negative trends. The aim of this study was to analyze secular trends in health-related muscular fitness in Slovenian children and adolescents between 1983 and 2014. Data were collected as part of “The Analysis of Children's Development in Slovenia (ACDSi)” study in 1983, 1993/94, 2003/04, and 2013/14. Anthropometry (body weight, height, BMI, and triceps skinfold) and muscular fitness (standing long jump, bent-arm hang, and sit-ups 60 s test) of 18730 (9168 female) students from primary and secondary schools were recorded. The secular trend was analyzed considering anthropometry. The results showed that anthropometric measures had an increasing trend and overall muscular fitness had a decreasing trend. Leg muscle power decreased over the decades in all age groups (relative difference between −1.5% and −2.6%), being more pronounced in boys. Arm muscle strength decreased in two younger age groups (range −21.1% to −42.7%, 6–10, and 11–14 years), but not in the oldest group (15–19 years), where the increase occurred in both genders (0.4% to 9.3%). In terms of decades, the largest negative changes (−30.1%) occurred from 1993/94 to 2003/04 and the smallest changes (−4.2%) from 2003/04 to 2013/14. The overall trend in repetitive core strength surprisingly increased (1.1% to 18.3%). There is a need to promote healthy lifestyles, raise parental awareness and use all government resources to redirect the negative trend in physical fitness.

• Language: English
• Keywords: sport, standing long jump, bent-arm hang, sit-ups test, students, ANCOVA, children, adolescents, Slovenia
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FŠ - Faculty of Sport
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: Str. 1853-1861
• Numbering: Vol. 31, iss. 9
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-144769
• UDC: 796.01
• ISSN on article: 1600-0838
• DOI: 10.1111/sms.13981
• COBISS.SI-ID: 61361923
• Publication date in RUL: 10.03.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports
• Shortened title: Scand. j. med. sci. sports
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 1600-0838
• COBISS.SI-ID: 517824025

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: šport, telesna dejavnost, skok v daljino z mesta, vesa v zgibu, dviganje trupa, šolarji, ANCOVA, otroci, mladostniki, Slovenija

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P5-0142
• Name: Bio-psiho-socialni konteksti kineziologije