engleski

Tracking of BMI, fatness and cardiorespiratory fitness from adolescence to middle adulthood: the Zagreb Growth and Development Longitudinal Study

Effective intervention strategies aiming to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and to decrease body fatness are needed. However, long-term stability of these traits is not well understood. Aim was to assess long-term tracking of cardiorespiratory fitness and body fatness from late adolescence to middle adulthood. The sample consisted of 50 participants (31 boys) of the Zagreb Growth and Development Longitudinal Study who were followed up in adulthood (median age=43). Fatness was evaluated through BMI and skinfolds, while cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed using a cardiopulmonary exercise test. Inter-age partial correlation coefficients were calculated to evaluate tracking. Body mass index and skinfolds showed moderate tracking from age 15 to middle adulthood (partial r=0.55, p<0.001 and partial r=0.52, p<0.001, respectively), while tracking of subcutaneous fat distribution was somewhat lower (partial r=0.38, p<0.01). At the same time, the observed tracking of peak oxygen uptake was low to moderate (partial r=0.30, p=0.03), while ventilatory aerobic and anaerobic thresholds did not show significant tracking. The results of this study indicate that preventive efforts aiming to increase cardiorespiratory fitness should include all adolescents irrespective of their cardiorespiratory fitness status. Conversely, strategies aiming at obesity prevention should focus on high-risk groups of adolescents.

stability ; overweight ; obesity ; inactivity ; prevention

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