TY - JOUR
T1 - Obesity and aerobic fitness among urban public school students in elementary, middle, and high school
AU - Ruth Clark, B.
AU - Leanne White, M.
AU - Royer, Nathaniel K.
AU - Burlis, Tamara L.
AU - DuPont, Nicholas C.
AU - Wallendorf, Michael
AU - Racette, Susan B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Clark et al.
PY - 2015/9/17
Y1 - 2015/9/17
N2 - Aims and Objectives To assess the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk among urban public school students through a collaborative school district and university partnership. Methods Children and adolescents in grades K-12 from 24 urban public schools participated in measurements of height, weight, and other health metrics during the 2009-2010 school year. Body mass index (BMI) percentiles and z-scores were computed for 4673 students. President's Challenge 1-mile endurance run was completed by 1075 students ages 9-19 years. Maximal oxygen consumption (O2max) was predicted using an age-, sex-, and BMI-specific formula to determine health-related fitness. Resting blood pressure (BP) was assessed in 1467 students. Regression analyses were used to compare BMI z-scores, fitness, and age-And sex-specific BP percentiles across grade levels. Chi-square tests were used to explore the effect of sex and grade-level on health-related outcomes. Results Based on BMI, 19.8%were categorized as overweight and 24.4% were obese. Included in the obese category were 454 students (9.7% of sample) classified with severe obesity. Using FITNESSGRAM criteria, 50.2%of students did not achieve the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ); the proportion of students in the Needs Improvement categories increased from elementary to middle school to high school. Male students demonstrated higher fitness than female students, with 61.4% of boys and only 35.4%of girls meeting HFZ standards. Elevated BP was observed among 24% of 1467 students assessed. Systolic and diastolic BP z-scores revealed low correlation with BMI z-scores. Conclusions A community-university collaboration identified obesity, severe obesity, overweight, and low aerobic fitness to be common risk factors among urban public school students.
AB - Aims and Objectives To assess the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk among urban public school students through a collaborative school district and university partnership. Methods Children and adolescents in grades K-12 from 24 urban public schools participated in measurements of height, weight, and other health metrics during the 2009-2010 school year. Body mass index (BMI) percentiles and z-scores were computed for 4673 students. President's Challenge 1-mile endurance run was completed by 1075 students ages 9-19 years. Maximal oxygen consumption (O2max) was predicted using an age-, sex-, and BMI-specific formula to determine health-related fitness. Resting blood pressure (BP) was assessed in 1467 students. Regression analyses were used to compare BMI z-scores, fitness, and age-And sex-specific BP percentiles across grade levels. Chi-square tests were used to explore the effect of sex and grade-level on health-related outcomes. Results Based on BMI, 19.8%were categorized as overweight and 24.4% were obese. Included in the obese category were 454 students (9.7% of sample) classified with severe obesity. Using FITNESSGRAM criteria, 50.2%of students did not achieve the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ); the proportion of students in the Needs Improvement categories increased from elementary to middle school to high school. Male students demonstrated higher fitness than female students, with 61.4% of boys and only 35.4%of girls meeting HFZ standards. Elevated BP was observed among 24% of 1467 students assessed. Systolic and diastolic BP z-scores revealed low correlation with BMI z-scores. Conclusions A community-university collaboration identified obesity, severe obesity, overweight, and low aerobic fitness to be common risk factors among urban public school students.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84945973807&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0138175
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0138175
M3 - Article
C2 - 26378914
AN - SCOPUS:84945973807
VL - 10
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 9
M1 - A1343
ER -