Profiling the health-related physical fitness of Irish adolescents: A school-level sociodemographic divide

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Examining factors that may explain disparities in fitness levels among youth is a critical step in youth fitness promotion. The purpose of this study was twofold; 1) to examine the influence of school-level characteristics on fitness test performance; 2) to compare Irish adolescents’ physical fitness to European norms. METHODS: Adolescents (n = 1215, girls = 609) aged 13.4 years (SD .41) from a randomised sample of 20 secondary schools, stratified for gender, location and educational (dis)advantage, completed a series of field-based tests to measure the components of health-related physical fitness. Tests included: body mass index; 20 metre shuttle run test (20 m SRT); handgrip strength; standing broad jump (SBJ); 4 x 10 metre shuttle run; and back-saver sit-and-reach (BSR). RESULTS: Overall, boys outperformed girls in all tests, aside from the BSR (p < 0.005, t-test, Bonferroni correction). Participants in designated disadvantaged schools had significantly higher body mass index levels (p < 0.001), and significantly lower cardiorespiratory endurance (20 m SRT) (p < 0.001) and muscular strength (handgrip strength) (p = 0.018) levels compared to participants in non-disadvantaged schools. When compared to European norms, girls in this study scored significantly higher in the 20 m SRT, 4 x 10 metre shuttle run and SBJ tests, while boys scored significantly higher in the BSR test (Cohen’s d 0.2 to 0.6, p < 0.001). However, European adolescents had significantly higher handgrip strength scores (Cohen’s d 0.6 to 0.8, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Irish adolescents compared favourably to European normative values across most components of HRPF, with the exception of muscular strength. School socioeconomic status was a strong determinant of performance among Irish adolescents. The contrasting findings for different fitness components reiterate the need for multi-component testing batteries for monitoring fitness in youth.