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Geographical Disparity in Cardiorespiratory Fitness among 3,189,540 Japanese Children and Adolescents before and

Tetsuhiro Kidokoro1

  • 1Research Institute for Health and Sport Science, Nippon Sport Science University, Tokyo 158-8508, Japan.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
|April 13, 2023
PubMed

Insights

The COVID-19 pandemic widened geographical disparities in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) among Japanese adolescents. Higher infection rates correlated with decreased CRF, suggesting increased health inequalities across prefectures.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Pediatric Health
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is a key indicator of children's health.
  • Geographical disparities in CRF may reflect socioeconomic and environmental factors.
  • The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these disparities is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate geographical disparities in CRF among Japanese children and adolescents.
  • To compare CRF levels before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • To assess the relationship between infection rates and changes in CRF.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized nationally representative physical fitness data from 5th and 8th graders (2019 and 2021).
  • Assessed CRF using the 20 m shuttle run test.
  • Quantified geographical disparity using the coefficient of variation (CV) across 47 prefectures.

Main Results:

  • Significant negative correlation between infection magnitude and CRF changes (r ≤ -0.293, p < 0.05).
  • Substantial increase in CV of CRF for 8th graders during the pandemic.
  • COVID-19 restrictions appeared to exacerbate geographical inequalities in adolescent CRF.

Conclusions:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic widened geographical disparities in cardiorespiratory fitness among Japanese adolescents.
  • These widening disparities in CRF suggest potential future health inequalities.
  • Public health strategies should address geographical variations in adolescent fitness.

Keywords:
censusinequalitiesphysical fitnesspublic healthtemporal trendsyouth

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