Determinantes de la salud en la adolescencia: capacidad cardiorrespiratoria y composición corporal

Abstract

Introduction: cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition aredetermining indicators of health status during adolescence. Theobjective of the study was to analyze the relationship of bothparameters with indicators of mental and psychosocial health,lifestyle habits, and sociodemographic variables, establishing theirpredictive factors.Method: a cross-sectional study was conducted with a representativesample of 761 students (14.51 ± 1.63 years old) from 25 educationalcenters in a northern region of Spain. Body mass index, maximumoxygen uptake, health-related quality of life, self-esteem, hours ofnightly sleep, adherence to the Mediterranean diet, physical activityengagement, academic performance, and different sociodemographicfactors were analyzed for all participants.Results: the results determined that being a boy, being younger,sleeping fewer hours at night, and presenting a lower academicperformance were predictors of suffering from obesity, while beingyounger and being a migrant were predictors of being overweight. Onthe other hand, lower physical activity engagement, poorer academicperformance, being a migrant, and not practicing extracurricularsports activities were predictive factors of cardiorespiratory fitness inthe risk zone. In addition, the environment for performing physicalactivity and socioeconomic level also showed associations withcardiorespiratory fitness.Conclusions: given the influence of body composition andcardiorespiratory fitness on the physical and psychosocial health ofadolescents, promotion strategies are required that take into accountthe identified predictors, with special attention to promoting healthylifestyles.