Association of physical fitness and anthropometric parameters with lung function in school-aged healthy children

Introduction: Postnatal development has the potential to contribute to lung function in adult life, although associations between health-related parameters and lung function remains unclear in childhood. The aim of the study is to evaluate the relationship between physical fitness and anthropometric parameters with lung function of healthy scholar-aged children. Method: A total of 418 children aged 7-8 years old participated in this study. The associations of fitness (handgrip strength, standing broad jump, and 800-m run) and anthropometric (waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI)) parameters with lung function (forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV )) were analysed using mixed-linear regression model. All measurements were performed using standard procedures for children. Results: : Girls had significantly lower FVC values (p=0.006) and physical fitness (p<0.019) compared to boys. On mixed-linear regression analyses, handgrip strength (p<0.001) and WC (p<0.001) were independently associated with FVC, explaining together 26.6 % of its variance while handgrip strength (p=0.001), WC (p<0.001) and BMI (p<0.001), were independently associated with FEV , accounting together for 21.0 % of its variance in 7-year healthy children. Conclusions: Handgrip strength and anthropometric parameters were associated with lung function in healthy children highlighting the influence of torso development in lung function. Our results corroborate the need to promote physical fitness during childhood, especially among girls, in order to enhance their pulmonary function and protect from lung complications in later life.