Physical Fitness and BodyWeight in Pre-Adolescent School Children: The EUROFIT Motor Fitness Test Explored on 11-12-Year-Old Children

Nowadays, the early prevention of obesity in childhood is one of the most critical public health issues. More than half of children and adolescents worldwide do not meet the recommendation of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day. This trend can reduce physical fitness and, consequently, cause a decrease in the quality of life throughout the lifespan. Physical fitness, defined as a set of abilities to perform physical activity and exercise (such as aerobic capacity, endurance, strength, flexibility), is considered one of the most important health markers in adulthood and childhood as well as adolescence. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the physical fitness of pre-adolescent children of the Emilia-Romagna region. Children’s anthropometric parameters (height and weight) and physical fitness levels - assessed via the EUROFIT test battery - were measured. In all of the applied EUROFIT tests, children’s performance was below the sucient age and gender values. Moreover, it was negatively associated with obesity. Our research provided evidence that the general fitness of our sample was low and the performance of overweight/obese children was lower compared to the under/normal weight students.