Congratulations to HALO Alumni Dr. Diego Silva and Dr. Justin Lang and HALO Director Dr. Mark Tremblay on their new publication titled “Association between 9-minute walk/run test and obesity among children and adolescents: evidence for criterion-referenced cut-points” just published in the journal PeerJ. They found the 9-min walk/run test had satisfactory predictive ability for obesity in children and adolescents. The physical fitness cut-points proposed in the study varied according to age and sex and could be useful and practical tools to identify low levels of physical fitness in children and adolescents in Brazil.

Citation details and the paper abstract are below.

Silva DAS, Lang JJ, Petroski EL, Mello JB, Gaya ACA, Tremblay MS. 2020. Association between 9-minute walk/run test and obesity among children and adolescents: evidence for criterion-referenced cut-points. PeerJ 8:e8651 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8651

Abstract

Background. Criterion-referenced cut-points for field-based aerobic fitness for children and adolescents are lacking. This study aimed to determine the associations between aerobic fitness and obesity to propose criterion-referenced cut-points for boys and girls (6–17 years). Methods. A total of 61,465 children and adolescents aged 11.2 ± 2.0 years were recruited from 27 sites (all 26 states and Federal District) across Brazil. Aerobic fitness was assessed using 9-min walk/run test reported as distance attained during the test. Body mass index was calculated from measured height and weight and was used to identify obesity. Results. The distance covered in the 9-min walk/run test (area under curve > 0.65) had satisfactory predictive ability for obesity. Sensitivity and specificity were moderate (>60%) to strong (>70%) for all age- and sex-specific cut-points. For boys, the optimal physical performance cut-points were, approximately, 1,200 m from 6 to 8 years, 1,300 m from 9 to 11 years, 1,380 m from 12 to 14 years, 1,520 m from 15 to 17 years. For girls, the best cut-points were, approximately, 1,070 m from 6 to 8 years, 1,160 m from 9 to 11 years and 1,200 m from 12 to 17 years. Conclusions. The 9-min walk/run test had satisfactory predictive ability for obesity in children and adolescents. The physical fitness cut-points proposed in the present study varied according to age and sex and could be useful and practical tools to identify low levels of physical fitness in children and adolescents in Brazil.

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