Muscle fitness and its association with body mass index in children and adolescents aged 7–18 years in China: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: The present study was the first one aimed to investigate the current muscle fitness and its associated factors among children and adolescents in mainland China. METHODS: From Nov 2013 to Jul 2014, 2283 children and adolescents aged 7–18 were recruited in Hainan and Shaanxi Provinces in China by cross-sectional design. Information on anthropometry and muscle fitness, measured by hand grip strength (GS), vertical jump (VJ) and sit-and-reach (SR), were collected. Analysis of covariance was performed by using general linear regression models to identify the association between BMI and muscle fitness. RESULTS: The means of GS, VJ and SR in boys were 22.30 ± 11.55 kg, 22.93 ± 6.80 cm and 3.58 ± 7.31 cm, respectively, and in girls were 16.61 ± 6.87 kg, 18.11 ± 4.08 cm and 7.18 ± 5.72 cm, respectively. GS (from 8.26 kg in the 7–8-year-old group to 27.91 kg in the 17–18 group) and SR (from 1.75 cm in the-8-year-old group to 10.12 cm in the 17–18 group) increased with age (both p for trend < 0.001). Boys had higher GS and VJ, but significantly lower SR than girls in each age group (p < 0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, residential areas and study regions, GS increased with elevated BMI (compared with normal weight group, the regression coefficient for thinness and overweight/obesity were − 2.997(95%CI: −3.693 to − 2.301) and 1.220 (95%CI: 0.285 to 2.155), respectively. With the p values less than 0.001 and 0.011, respectively). For VJ, there was no difference found between normal weight group and overweight/obesity group (p = 0.550), but the thinness group had the lowest performance (regression coefficient = − 2.681, 95%CI from − 3.965 to − 1.397, p < 0.001). For SR, compared with normal weight group, the regression coefficients for thinness and overweight/obesity were − 1.313(95%CI: −2.228 to − 0.399) and − 1.623(95%CI: −3.216 to − 0.030) respectively, both p < 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: Increased body weight may have a positive association with isometric muscle strength measured by grip strength, but a negative one with strength of lifting the body. Sex difference was also found in the performance of flexibility. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12887-019-1477-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.