Division of Physical Education, University of Education Upper Austria, 4020 Linz, Austria.
Olympic Training Center Upper Austria, 4020 Linz, Austria.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Feb 7;17(3):1045. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17031045.
Physical fitness is an important component in the development and health of children and adolescents. Given the equivocal results of previous research regarding the influence of the living environment on physical fitness, this study examined differences in physical fitness in urban and rural elementary school children in Upper Austria. A total of 18,168 (51% male) children between 6 and 11 years of age participated in anthropometric assessments and completed eight fitness tests that assessed cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular power, speed, agility, flexibility, and ball handling skills during a single test session in the school's gymnasium. Urban living environment was associated with higher body weight ( = 0.01) and lower physical fitness ( < 0.01), except for flexibility, which was better in urban children ( < 0.01) and upper body strength (no difference), even after accounting for differences in body weight. Furthermore, it was shown that urban-rural differences in physical fitness are more pronounced in normal weight children and that these differences increase with age. These results highlight the potential of the living environment for the promotion of an active lifestyle that enhances physical fitness. The availability of safe spaces that facilitate unstructured and structured physical activity, as well as active transportation provide viable options for the promotion of physical fitness in children.
身体活动能力是儿童和青少年发展和健康的一个重要组成部分。鉴于先前关于生活环境对身体活动能力影响的研究结果存在差异，本研究考察了上奥地利州城市和农村小学生身体活动能力的差异。共有 18168 名（51%为男性）6 至 11 岁的儿童在学校体育馆的一次测试中接受了人体测量评估，并完成了八项体能测试，评估了心肺耐力、肌肉力量、速度、敏捷性、灵活性和控球能力。城市生活环境与更高的体重（ = 0.01）和较低的身体活动能力（ < 0.01）有关，除了灵活性，城市儿童的灵活性更好（ < 0.01），而上半身力量（无差异），即使考虑到体重差异也是如此。此外，还表明，身体活动能力的城乡差异在正常体重儿童中更为明显，并且这些差异随着年龄的增长而增加。这些结果强调了生活环境对促进促进身体健康的积极生活方式的潜力。提供安全空间以促进无组织和结构化的身体活动，以及提供积极的交通方式，为促进儿童身体健康提供了可行的选择。
