Association of Physical Fitness and Anthropometric Parameters With Lung Function in 7-Year-Old Children

Abstract

Purpose: Associations between health-related parameters and lung function remain unclear in childhood. The study aims toevaluate the relationship between physical fitness and anthropometric parameters with the lung function of healthy scholar-agedchildren. Method: A total of 418 children aged 7 years old participated in this study. The associations of physical fitness(handgrip strength, standing broad jump, and 800-m run) and anthropometric (waist circumference and body mass index)parameters with lung function (forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in 1 s) were analyzed using a mixed-linearregression model. Results: Girls had significantly lower forced vital capacity values (P = .006) and physical fitness (P < .030)compared to boys. On mixed-linear regression analyses, waist circumference (P = .003) was independently associated withforced vital capacity, explaining 34.6% of its variance, while handgrip strength (P = .042) and waist circumference (P = .010)were independently associated with forced expiratory volume in 1 second, accounting together for 26.5% of its variance in7-year-old healthy children. Conclusions: Handgrip strength and waist circumference were associated with lung function inhealthy children highlighting the influence of upper body muscular strength and trunk dimension on lung function. Our resultscorroborate the need to promote physical fitness during childhood to protect against lung complications in later on in life.