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Reference values for maximum work capacity in relation to body composition in healthy Dutch children
V A Gulmans1, K de Meer, R A Binkhorst
1Dept of Pediatric Physiotherapy, University Hospital for Children, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
The European Respiratory Journal
|January 1, 1997
Summary
Maximum workload in children is strongly linked to body weight and fat-free mass. New reference values for workload adjusted for body composition can aid in assessing exercise capacity in both healthy and sick children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Exercise Physiology
- Sports Medicine
- Child Health
Background:
- Exercise performance is crucial for physical development in children.
- Assessing exercise capacity in sick children requires easily measurable parameters that account for nutritional status.
- Existing metrics may not fully capture the nuances of exercise performance relative to body composition in pediatric populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between maximum workload (Wmax) and body weight (BW) and fat-free mass (FFM) in healthy children aged 12-18 years.
- To establish reference values for Wmax adjusted for nutritional status (BW and FFM).
- To provide tools for predicting workload corrected for body composition in pediatric populations.
Main Methods:
- An incremental maximum exercise test was conducted on a bicycle ergometer for 158 healthy children (77 boys, 81 girls) aged 12-18 years.
- Body weight (BW) and fat-free mass (FFM) were measured in all participants.
- Correlation and two-way analysis of variance were used to analyze the relationships between Wmax, BW, FFM, gender, and age.
Main Results:
- Significant positive correlations were found between Wmax and BW (boys: r=0.82, girls: r=0.73) and between Wmax and FFM (boys: r=0.89, girls: r=0.79) (p < 0.001).
- Gender significantly influenced the Wmax/BW and Wmax/FFM ratios.
- Age significantly affected the Wmax/FFM ratio (p=0.003) but not the Wmax/BW ratio.
Conclusions:
- The maximum workload relative to body weight (Wmax/BW) and fat-free mass (Wmax/FFM) are valuable indicators of work capacity during bicycle ergometry in children.
- Developed reference values for Wmax/BW and Wmax/FFM in boys and girls aged 12-18 years can be applied to assess children's exercise performance.
- These parameters and reference values can assist in evaluating exercise capacity in both healthy and sick children, considering their body composition.