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Physical Fitness Benchmarks for Preschool Children in South Korea: A Population-Based Study

Moon-Yeon Oh1,2, Jae-Ho Lee3

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Republic of Korea.

Children (Basel, Switzerland)
|March 28, 2025
PubMed

Insights

This study establishes the first physical fitness benchmarks for Korean preschoolers aged 3-6. It found fitness improves with age, with sex-specific differences in various physical skills.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Exercise Science
  • Anthropometry

Background:

  • Physical fitness is crucial for children's development and long-term health.
  • A significant gap exists in established physical fitness benchmarks for Asian preschool-aged populations.
  • Lack of normative data hinders the assessment and intervention for physical fitness in young children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To establish age- and sex-specific physical fitness reference values for Korean preschool children.
  • To investigate the relationship between physical fitness and anthropometric measures in this population.
  • To provide a foundation for identifying and addressing physical fitness deficits in early childhood.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective analysis of data from 36,118 Korean children aged 3 to 6 years.
  • Utilized five standardized physical fitness tests: Sit and Reach, V-Sit Endurance, Standing Long Jump, Single-Leg Stand, and 5-Meter Shuttle Run.
  • Generated percentile curves using Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale, and Shape (GAMLSS) and analyzed fitness-anthropometry associations with LOESS regression.

Main Results:

  • Established normative physical fitness data for Korean preschoolers, stratified by age and sex.
  • Identified sex-specific performance differences: girls excelled in flexibility, endurance, and balance; boys in jumping power.
  • Observed a positive association between physical fitness and age, peaking around average height and weight z-scores.

Conclusions:

  • This study presents the first large-scale, evidence-based physical fitness reference standards for Korean preschoolers.
  • These benchmarks are essential for the early detection of suboptimal physical fitness and for guiding targeted interventions.
  • The findings contribute to promoting healthy physical development and future well-being in young children.

Keywords:
physical fitnesspreschool childrenreference standard

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