Physical Fitness and Health in Adolescents

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Orthopedics & Sports Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2025 | Viewed by 71

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Research Group on Physical and Health Literacy and Health-Related Quality of Life (PHYQOL), Faculty of Sport Science, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Interests: health; children; chronic disease; physical condition; physical literacy; obesity; well-being
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Adolescence represents a crucial stage in human development, marked by rapid physical, emotional, and social changes. In this context, physical fitness emerges not only as a key indicator of current health status, but also as a powerful predictor of future health outcomes. The alarming increase in sedentary lifestyles, obesity rates, and mental health disorders among adolescents underscores the urgent need to examine and promote physical fitness from a comprehensive, evidence-based perspective.

This Special Issue of Children seeks to bring together cutting-edge research focused on physical fitness and its interrelation with adolescent health. Contributions from diverse disciplines, such as kinesiology, sports science, public health, psychology, and pedagogy, will be welcomed. This Special Issue aims to explore the different components of physical fitness—including cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, body composition—and their associations with physical, mental, and social well-being.

Key topics will include the development of reliable assessment tools, longitudinal studies that track fitness changes and their health implications, and interventions designed to improve fitness levels in various settings (schools, communities, clinical environments). Special attention will be given to socio-environmental factors that facilitate or hinder active lifestyles, as well as to gender and socioeconomic disparities in access to physical activity opportunities.

We also encourage submissions that examine innovative approaches to promoting adolescent fitness, such as the use of digital technologies, school-based physical education reforms, and community health initiatives. Furthermore, papers investigating the bidirectional relationships between fitness and psychological variables, such as motivation, self-esteem, and resilience, will be highly valued.

We invite researchers, educators, clinicians, and policymakers to contribute papers to this Special Issue that will lead to a healthier and more active youth.

Dr. María Mendoza Muñoz
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • physical fitness
  • adolescent health
  • cardiorespiratory endurance
  • muscular strength
  • physical activity promotion
  • mental well-being
  • exercise interventions
  • public health
  • school-based programmes.

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 657 KiB  
Article
Physical Fitness, Experiential Avoidance, and Psychological Inflexibility Among Adolescents: Results from the EHDLA Study
by Maria Mendoza-Muñoz, José Francisco López-Gil, Damián Pereira-Payo and Raquel Pastor-Cisneros
Children 2025, 12(8), 1032; https://doi.org/10.3390/children12081032 - 6 Aug 2025
Abstract
Background/Introduction: Psychological inflexibility, which includes experiential avoidance, is a transdiagnostic process associated with multiple mental health issues in adolescence. Physical fitness (PF) has shown benefits for mental well-being, yet its specific relationship with psychological inflexibility remains understudied, particularly among youth. Objectives: To examine [...] Read more.
Background/Introduction: Psychological inflexibility, which includes experiential avoidance, is a transdiagnostic process associated with multiple mental health issues in adolescence. Physical fitness (PF) has shown benefits for mental well-being, yet its specific relationship with psychological inflexibility remains understudied, particularly among youth. Objectives: To examine the association between components of PF and psychological inflexibility, measured by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), in a representative sample of Spanish adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from 631 adolescents (aged 12–17) participating in the Eating Healthy and Daily Life Activities (EHDLA) study. PF was assessed by the Assessing the Levels of PHysical Activity and Fitness (ALPHA-Fit) Test Battery (cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, agility, and flexibility). Psychological inflexibility was measured using the AAQ-II. Generalized linear models (GLMs) were used to evaluate associations, adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, socioeconomic status, physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep duration, and energy intake. Results: Unadjusted analyses showed weak but significant associations between psychological inflexibility and performance in the 20 m shuttle run test (p = 0.002), the 4 × 10 shuttle run test (p = 0.005), and the sit-and-reach test (p < 0.001). However, after adjusting for covariates, none of the PF components maintained a statistically significant association with the AAQ-II scores. Conclusions: In this adolescent sample, PF components were not independently associated with psychological inflexibility after adjustment for key confounders. These findings suggest that, while PF may contribute to general well-being, it is not a primary determinant of psychological inflexibility. Further longitudinal and intervention studies are needed to clarify the mechanisms linking physical and psychological health in youth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physical Fitness and Health in Adolescents)
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