Cent Eur J Public Health 2015, 23(Supplement):S9-S13 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a4069

Dramatic decrease in muscular fitness in Czech schoolchildren over the Last 20 years

Dana Müllerová1, Jana Langmajerová1, Pavel Sedláček1, Jana Dvořáková1, Tomáš Hirschner2, Zdeněk Weber3, Luděk Müller4, Zuzana Derflerová Brázdová5
1 Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Medical Faculty in Pilsen, Charles University in Prague, Pilsen, Czech Republic
2 Pilsen Sport Company, Pilsen, Czech Republic
3 West Bohemia University in Pilsen, Czech Republic
4 European Centre of NTIS West Bohemia University in Pilsen, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Pilsen, Czech Republic
5 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

Aim: Obesity and physical inactivity had already reached epidemic, becoming one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. The objective of this study was to investigate the current level and a nearly three decades' trend of muscular fitness (MF) and the nutritional state of Czech children.

Methods: In 2013, cross-sectional epidemiological survey was conducted in schoolchildren with examination of the anthropometric characteristics and measured MF using a UNIFIT test, which normative for MF categories was given as results of national monitoring data collected in 1987. In total 896 current schoolchildren (472 aged 8-9 years and 424 aged 12-13 years) were examined from selected children through stratified sampling from the Czech Republic.

Results: Against 31% of children from 1986 there were 74% of current children classified as "poor" or "below normal" in the MF category (p<0.001). MF was inversely associated with BMI. Poor posture was diagnosed in 24% of children, more frequently in overweight (OW) and obese (OB) children in comparison to normal body weight children (p<0.001). In comparison to 10% of OW and OB children in 1991, using these cut-off points for body mass index references, the current prevalence of OW and OB doubled (19.8%).

Conclusions: Current Czech schoolchildren showed a doubled prevalence of OW and OB during the last two decades and simultaneously during nearly three decades there were more than doubled prevalence of "poor" or "under normal" MF of children, with overall dramatic decrease of MF in current schoolchildren.

Keywords: muscular fitness, obesity, children, posture

Received: August 14, 2014; Revised: April 10, 2015; Accepted: April 10, 2015; Published: November 1, 2015  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Müllerová D, Langmajerová J, Sedláček P, Dvořáková J, Hirschner T, Weber Z, et al.. Dramatic decrease in muscular fitness in Czech schoolchildren over the Last 20 years. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2015;23(Supplement):S9-13. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a4069. PubMed PMID: 26849551.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Frühbeck G, Toplak H, Woodward E, Yumuk V, Maislos M, Oppert JM; Executive Committee of the EuropeanAssociation for the Study of Obesity. Obesity: the gateway to ill health - an EASO position statement on a rising public health, clinical and scientific challenge in Europe. Obes Facts. 2013;6(2):117-20. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    2. World Health Organization. Media centre. Obesity and overweight [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2015 [cited 2015Aug 19].Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/index.html.
    3. Matoulek M, Svačina Š, Lajka J. The incidence of obesity and its complications in the Czech Republic. Vnitr Lek. 2010 Oct.;56(10):1019-27. (In Czech.) Go to PubMed...
    4. De Onis M. WHO child growth standards: length/height-for-age, weightfor-age, weight-for-length, weight -for-height and body mass index-forage: methods and development. Geneva: WHO; 2006.
    5. Cole TJ, Lobstein T. Extended international (IOTF) body mass index cut-offs for thinness, overweight and obesity. Pediatr Obes. 2012 Aug;7(4):284-94. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    6. Vignerová J, Lhotská L, Bláha P. Proposed standard definition for child overweight and obesity. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2001Aug;9(3):145-6.
    7. Bláha P, Lhotská L, Vignerová J, Bošková R. The 5th nation-wide anthropological study of children and adolescents held in 1991 (Czech Republic) - selected anthropometric characteristics. Cesk Pediatr. 1993 Oct.;48(10):621-30. (In Czech.)
    8. Měkota K, Kovář R, Chytráčková J, Gajda V, Kohoutek M, Moravec R. Unifittest (6-60): guide for manual and computerized evaluation of basic motor performance and selected characteristics of bod building of youth and adults in the Czech Republic. Prague: Charles University, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport; 2002. (In Czech.)
    9. Moravec R, Kasa J. Physical development and motor performance of 7-18 years old children and youth in Czechoslovakia. Sborník Vědecké rady ÚV ČSTV. 1990;(21):53-81. (In Czech.)
    10. Groeneveld HB. Metric detection and definition of back shape and posture of the human. Stuttgart: Hippokrates Verlag; 1976.
    11. Kendall MG. Rank correlation methods. London: Griffin; 1948.
    12. Pearson K. Notes on the history of correlation. Biometrika. 1920;13(1):2545. Go to original source...
    13. Vignerová J, Humeníková L, Brabec M, Riedlová J, Bláha P. Long-term changes in body weight, BMI, and adiposity rebound among children and adolescents in the Czech Republic. Econ Hum Biol. 2007 Dec;5(3):40925. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    14. Kunešová M, Vignerová J, Pařízková J, Procházka B, Braunerová R, Riedlová J, et al. Long-term changes in prevalence of overweight and obesity in Czech 7-year-old children: evaluation of different cut-off criteria of childhood obesity. Obes Rev. 2011 Jul;12(7):483-91. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    15. Matusitz J, McCormick J. Sedentarism: the effects of Internet use on human obesity in the United States. Soc Work Public Health. 2012;27(3):250-69. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    16. Smith JJ, Eather N, Morgan PJ, Plotnikoff RC, FaigenbaumAD, Lubans DR. The health benefits of muscular fitness for children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2014 Sep;44(9):120923. Go to original source...

    Return to the content