Research Paper
Diamanda Leontsini,1 Theodoros Stamboulis,1 Alexandra Avloniti,1 Ioannis Athanailidis,1 Athanasios Chatzinikolaou1
1Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece
dleontsi@gmail.com
Abstract:
Although normative data for physical fitness parameters are available at International and European level, contemporary normative scores from North-East Greece are sparse. Moreover, direct comparison of physical fitness data to European norms is still absent. Objective. This investigation aimed to evaluate the cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal fitness of Greek preadolescents from North-East Greece in comparison to current European reference norms. Method. 300 pre-adolescent (mean Tanner stage A: 1.67 ± 0.6; mean Tanner stage B: 1.65 ± 0.6) boys and girls (mean age: 9.4 ± 1.1 years) completed a testing battery of 20-m shuttle run test (20m SRT), handgrip strength, and standing broad jump. Scores for each testing parameter were compared against European age- and sex-specific centiles and then grouped into quintiles. Results. For all testing parameters, 60-81% of participants were classified as having physical fitness performance scores of “moderate” or lower level. No differences were noted between boys and girls. Data corroborated that physical fitness levels of Greek preadolescent boys and girls are among the lowest recorded in the European region. Conclusion. This data suggest that physical fitness levels of pre-adolescents in North East Greece may be suboptimal, which strongly indicates the need for adopting large-scale fitness assessments in this particular region
Keywords:
cardiorespiratory fitness, musculoskeletal fitness, 20m shuttle run test, handgrip testing, standing long jump
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