Abstract
Objective. This study was to examine the influence of socioeconomic status on fitness and fatness in Spanish adolescents. Subjects and Methods. A total of 1 795 adolescents (833 boys) aged 12.5–18.5 years from the AVENA study participated in this study. The following physical fitness components were assessed: muscular strength (standing long jump), speed-agility (4 × 10 m shuttle run) and cardiorespiratory fitness (20 m shuttle run). Total and central body fat was assessed using skinfold thickness and waist circumference, respectively. Both parents reported their educational and professional level. Results. Girls with higher paternal educational level and boys with higher either maternal or paternal professional level had higher muscular strength levels (all P<0.05). Speed-agility and cardiorespiratory fitness were not associated with parental educational or professional levels in boys. In contrast, girls with higher paternal educational level or higher parental professional level had higher levels in both fitness components (all P<0.05). A higher maternal educational level was associated with lower total and central body fat in boys (all P<0.05), but not in girls. We observed a small effect size (Cohen's d∼0.2) in most of these associations. Conclusions. Our results suggest modest associations of high socioeconomic status with better fitness and fatness levels in Spanish adolescents. These associations greatly depend on the socioeconomic status and fitness parameters studied.
Acknowledgements and funding
The AVENA study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Health (Facultad de CC Físicas 00/0015), by the Spanish Ministry of Education (Grants: AP-2005-3827, AP-2005-4358, AP2006-02464, EX-2007-1124, EX-2008-0641) and Science-FEDER funds (Acciones Complementarias DEP2007-29933-E). The study was also funded by the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS), and by the Spanish Ministry of Health: Maternal, Child Health and Development Network (number RD08/0072) (LAM).
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The results of the present study do not constitute endorsement by the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.