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Physical Fitness and Health Outcomes throughout the Life Span

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 7037

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Rute Santos

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Guest Editor

1. Research Centre in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal
2. Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, Porto, Portugal
Interests: epidemiology; physical activity and health; public health; physical fitness
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Luis Lopes

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Guest Editor

Research Centre in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto. Rua Dr Plácido Costa, 91, 420-450 Porto, Portugal
Interests: motor competence; physical activity; physical fitness; sedentary behavior; school health promotion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Physical fitness is an important marker of health throughout the life span. There has been substantial research on the health-related benefits of attaining adequate levels of fitness in adults, but not as much in individuals of other age groups, particularly in young children. Likewise, studies on clinical populations are less frequent. Research has been focused on the health-related effects of cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, but other physical fitness components, such as flexibility, have not been considered as often. This Special Issue “Physical Fitness and Health Outcomes throughout the Life Span” is an opportunity to advance our scientific knowledge in this field by addressing research gaps and suggesting future research questions so to improve our understanding of the health-related effects of the different physical fitness components.

Papers addressing the associations between (or effects of) fitness and various health outcomes in individuals of different ages are welcomed for this Special Issue. Papers addressing the effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on fitness levels, reporting physical fitness trends, describing the effects of public health policies related to fitness, or exploring self-reported assessments of physical fitness are also welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Rute Santos
Dr. Luis Lopes
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 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 2500 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
physical activity
motor competence
COVID-19
physical fitness assessment

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 665 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Is Subjective Age Associated with Physical Fitness in Community-Dwelling Older Adults?

by Jin Wang, Jiabin Yu and Xiaoguang Zhao

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(11), 6841; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116841 - 3 Jun 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1651

Abstract

Although subjective age has been associated with a range of health-related outcomes, there has been little systematic study on the relationship between the subjective age and physical fitness in a given population. The purpose of this study was to determine the prospective association between subjective age and physical fitness in community-dwelling older adults. A sample of 276 older people who lived in the community was studied. Subjective age was measured by a face-to-face interview. Grip strength, balancing on one leg with eyes open, the 30 s chair stand test, 4 m habitual walk, and 6 min walk test were measured to reflect physical fitness. Results indicated that the felt younger older adults had a higher level of physical fitness compared to their felt older and felt the same counterparts. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that all the measured physical fitness items were significantly associated with subjective age in older men. All of the measured physical fitness items except for the 4 m habitual walk were remarkably related to subjective age in older women. The findings suggest that subjective age is closely associated with physical fitness in community-dwelling older adults. Much attention should be paid to the promotion of physical fitness to improve the subjective age of older adults. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physical Fitness and Health Outcomes throughout the Life Span)

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15 pages, 4303 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Comparison of Physical Fitness Profiles Obtained before and during COVID-19 Pandemic in Two Independent Large Samples of Children and Adolescents: DAFIS Project

by María Rúa-Alonso, Jessica Rial-Vázquez, Iván Nine, Jose Ramón Lete-Lasa, Iván Clavel, Manuel A. Giráldez-García, Miguel Rodríguez-Corral, Xurxo Dopico-Calvo and Eliseo Iglesias-Soler

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(7), 3963; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073963 - 26 Mar 2022

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 2776

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic restrictions might have negatively affected the health-related physical fitness of children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to contrast the body composition and physical fitness data of two independent samples of children and adolescents obtained from an online database (DAFIS project) before (n = 15,287) and during (n = 2101) the first academic year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed higher values for the body mass index (p = 0.002), waist circumference (p < 0.001), and waist to hip and waist to height ratios (p < 0.001) during than before the pandemic, particularly in the case of boys. On the other hand, lower muscular fitness was observed for girls during the pandemic. Quantitative and qualitative analysis did not detect relevant changes in cardiorespiratory fitness in children or adolescents (p > 0.05). Our data suggested that pandemic constraints might have affected body composition and muscular fitness of children and adolescents. These results might be of interest for designing specific interventions oriented toward counteracting the negative effects of pandemic restrictions on health-related physical fitness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physical Fitness and Health Outcomes throughout the Life Span)

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Review

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15 pages, 6759 KiB

Open AccessReview

Review on Cardiorespiratory Complications after SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Young Adult Healthy Athletes

by Sofia Romagnoli, Agnese Sbrollini, Ilaria Marcantoni, Micaela Morettini and Laura Burattini

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(9), 5680; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095680 - 6 May 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1835

Abstract

This review analyzes scientific data published in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic with the aim to report the cardiorespiratory complications observed after SARS-CoV-2 infection in young adult healthy athletes. Fifteen studies were selected using PRISMA guidelines. A total of 4725 athletes (3438 males and 1287 females) practicing 19 sports categories were included in the study. Information about symptoms was released by 4379 (93%) athletes; of them, 1433 (33%) declared to be asymptomatic, whereas the remaining 2946 (67%) reported the occurrence of symptoms with mild (1315; 45%), moderate (821; 28%), severe (1; 0%) and unknown (809; 27%) severity. The most common symptoms were anosmia (33%), ageusia (32%) and headache (30%). Cardiac magnetic resonance identified the largest number of cardiorespiratory abnormalities (15.7%). Among the confirmed inflammations, myocarditis was the most common (0.5%). In conclusion, the low degree of symptom severity and the low rate of cardiac abnormalities suggest that the risk of significant cardiorespiratory involvement after SARS-CoV-2 infection in young adult athletes is likely low; however, the long-term physiologic effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection are not established yet. Extensive cardiorespiratory screening seems excessive in most cases, and classical pre-participation cardiovascular screening may be sufficient. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physical Fitness and Health Outcomes throughout the Life Span)

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