Body fat percentage, cardiorespiratory fitness and arterial blood pressure in children and adolescents: a longitudinal analysis

Table 1 Descriptive sample characteristics at baseline and follow-up

	Boys	Girls	Total	Effect size Cohen’s d
	n = 173	n = 234	n = 407
		Mean (SD)
Age (Baseline; years)	10.08 (2.10)*	10.01 (2.04)*	10.02 (2.06)	0.03
Age (Follow-up; years)	12.69 (1.99)	12.64 (1.98)	12.66 (1.98)	0.03
Weight (Baseline; kg)	40.63 (14.28)*	39.03 (12.15)*	39.71 (13.10)	0.12
Weight (Follow-up; kg)	54.62 (17.68) †	50.94 (12.64)	52.50 (15.08)	0.25
Height (Baseline; meters)	1.43 (1.36)*	1.42 (1.29)*	1.43 (1.32)	0.01
Height (Follow-up; meters)	1.58 (0.13) †	1.55 (0.10)	1.56 (0.11)	0.26
BF% (Baseline; %)	21.85 (8.02) †*	23.35 (6.10)	22.71 (7.01)	0.21
BF% (Follow-up; %)	19.15 (7.70) †	22.90 (6.00)	21.31 (7.01)	0.55
Δ BF% (T₁—T_0; %)	− 2.69 (6.75) †	− 0.45 (4.98)	− 1.40 (5.90)	0.39
VO_2peak (Baseline; mL/kg/min)	47.09 (4.16) †*	41.69 (3.53)*	43.99 (4.65)	1.42
VO_2peak (Follow-up; mL/kg/min)	48.07 (6.67) †	42.57 (5.25)	44.91 (6.48)	0.93
Δ VO_2peak (T₁—T_0; mL/kg/min)	0.94 (4.58) †	0.86 (3.48)	0.89 (3.97)	0.02
SBP (Baseline, mmHg)	100.03 (11.07)*	98.10 (10.78)*	98.92 (10.94)	0.18
SBP (Follow-up, mmHg)	110.06 (14.84)	109.15 (12.85)	109.53 (13.72)	0.07
Δ SBP (T₁—T_0; mmHg)	10.02 (13.88) †	11.04 (12.51)	10.60 (13.11)	0.08
DBP (Baseline, mmHg)	60.91 (11.15)*	59.53 (10.55)*	60.12 (10.82)	0.13
DBP (Follow-up, mmHg)	66.49 (11.90)	66.74 (10.48)	66.63 (11.09)	0.02
Δ DBP (T₁—T₀, mmHg)	5.57 (13.30)	7.20 (11.47)	6.51 (12.29)	0.13

		n (%)		Effect size
Skin color
White	132 (76.3)	185 (79.1)	317 (77.9)	φ = 0.03
Non-white	41 (23.7)	49 (20.9)	90 (28.1)	φ = 0.03
Pubertal status (Follow-up)
Pre-pubertal	20 (11.6)	20 (8.5)	40 (9.8)	V = 0.09
Initial development	40 (23.1)	53 (22.6)	93 (22.9)
Continuous maturation (stages 3 and 4)	98 (56.7)	143 (61.1)	231 (59.2)
Maturated	15 (8.7)	18 (7.7)	33 (8.1)
Socioeconomic level
High	72 (41.6)	99 (42.5)	171 (42.1)	V = 0.07
Medium	94 (54.3)	117 (50.2)	211 (52.0)
Low	7 (4.0)	17 (7.3)	24 (5.9)

Data are expressed as mean and standard deviation (SD) for continuous variables or as absolute and relative frequency for categorical variables; † denotes difference between sexes calculated using the independent student t-test (p < 0.05); * denotes statistical differences between follow-up and baseline scores using the t-test for paired samples (p < 0.05); Effect size for the difference between baseline and follow-up scores: BF%: (Boys: 0.40; Girls: 0.09); VO_2peak (Boys: 0.20; Girls: 0.25); SBP (Boys: 0.72; Girls: 0.88); DBP (Boys: 0.42; Girls: 0.63); Δ: Changes between follow-up and baseline scores (T₁ – T₀); BF%: Body fat percentage; VO_2peak: Peak oxygen uptake; SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure.; φ: Effect size Phi; V: Cramer’s V

ISSN: 1471-2261