The Importance of Adolescents’ Participation in Organized Sport According to VO₂peak: A Longitudinal Study

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the girls (n = 37) and boys (n = 39) who completed the fitness test at 14 and 19 years of age.

	14 years of age		19 years of age
	Girls, M (SD)	Boys, M (SD)	Girls, M (SD)	Boys, M (SD)
Age	13.8 (0.4)	13.8 (0.4)	18.8 (0.4)	18.8 (0.4)
Height, cm	162.62 (7.29)	165.44 (9.45)	166.78 (5.88)	182.32 (7.87)
Weight, kg	56.12 (13.39)	52.66 (9.36)	64.94 (13.05)	76.17 (13.8)
BMI	21.06 (4.17)	19.11 (2.54)	23.22 (4.11)	22.88 (4.13)
Overweight, %	16.2	7.7	24.3	25.6
VO2peak, mL·min^−1·kg^−1	43.98 (7.78)	54.69 (6.03)	40.16 (6.10)	52.21 (6.67)
VO2peak, L·min^−1	2.40 (0.41)	2.87 (0.53)	2.57 (0.41)	3.96 (0.75)
PA level	4.30 (0.66)	4.36 (0.67)	3.78 (1.00)	3.92 (0.87)
Unfit (low fitness), %	13.5	2.6	10.8	5.1

Note. BMI = body mass index; VO₂peak = peak oxygen consumption; PA = physical activity. PA: 1 = never, 2 = less than once a week, 3 = once a week, 4 = 2 to 3 days a week, 5 = most days of the week.

Table 2. VO₂peak (mL·min⁻¹·kg⁻¹) and changes in VO₂peak in relation to adolescents’ weekly participation in PA at 14 and 19 years of age (N = 76).

Organization of PA at 14 and 19 years of age	VO2peak 14 years old M (SD)	VO2peak 19 years old M (SD)	Change in VO2peak 14–19 years old	n
1. Organized and unorganized at both times	54.7 (6.9)	52.4 (8.7)	−2.3 mL·min^−1·kg^−1	24
2. Organized and unorganized at 14 years, organized at 19 years	50.5 (8.0)	49.3 (8.4)	−1.2 mL·min^−1·kg^−1	5
3. Organized and unorganized at 14 years, unorganized at 19 years	48.9 (6.5)	43.5 (6.7)	−5.4 mL·min^−1·kg^−1	18
4. Organized and unorganized at 14 years, no weekly activity at 19 years	42.6 (12.8)	41.5 (8.0)	−1.1 mL·min^−1·kg^−1	3
5. Organized at 14 years, organized and unorganized at 19 years	54.4 (3.8)	53.5 (6.5)	−0.9 mL·min^−1·kg^−1	4
6. Organized at 14 years, unorganized at 19 years	43.2 (8.5)	38.4 (2.9)	−4.8 mL·min^−1·kg^−1	5
7. Organized at 14 years, no weekly activity at 19 years	47.8 (2.0)	40.7 (1.6)	−7.1 mL·min^−1·kg^−1	3
8. Unorganized at both times	41.5 (10.3)	41.4 (7.5)	−0.1 mL·min^−1·kg^−1	11
9. No weekly activity at 14 years, unorganized at 19 years	42.1	36.3	−5.8 mL·min^−1·kg^−1	1
10. No weekly activity at both times	54.8 (4.5)	46.7 (2.9)	−9.1 mL·min^−1·kg^−1	2

Note. VO₂peak = peak oxygen consumption; PA = physical activity.

Table 3. Characteristics of the participants categorized into three groups based on their PA (organized PA, unorganized PA, no weekly PA) at 14 and 19 years of age.

	Organized sport M (SD) Boys/girls	Unorganized PA M (SD) Boys/girls	No weekly PA M (SD) Boys/girls
n	22/11	14/20	3/6
14 years of age
Age	13.8 (0.4)	13.8 (0.4)	13.8 (0.4)
Height, cm	167.6 (9.4)/162.1 (6.1)	163.8 (7.5)/163 (7.5)	156.8 (12.3)/161.7 (10.2)
Weight, kg	53.6 (10.4)/51.5 (7.5)	53.3 (6.5)/59.4 (15)	42.9 (9.8)/52.6 (14.8)
BMI	18.9 (2.5)/19.5 (2)	29.9 (2.6)/22.2 (4.9)	17.2 (1.2)/19.7 (3.2)
Overweight, %	4.5/0	14.3/23.8	0/20
PA**	4.7 (0.6)/4.7 (0.5)	4.4 (0.7)/4.1 (0.7)	3.7 (0.6)/4 (0.7)
Unfit (low fitness), %	0/0	7.1/19	0/20
19 years of age
Age	18.8 (0.4)	18.8 (0.4)	18.8 (0.4)
Height, cm	184.5 (6.7)/166.1 (5.6)*	180.8 (8.3)/167.1 (6.2)*	172.8 (7)/166.9 (6.3)
Weight, kg	77.7 (13.6)/62.5 (8)*	78.1 (12.1)/66.8 (15.1)*	56.4 (9.8)/62.3 (13.6)
BMI	22.8 (4)/22.6 (2.5)	23.9 (4.2)/23.8 (4.9)	18.7 (1.7)/22.1 (3.3)
Overweight, %	18.2/18.2	42.9/28.8	0/20
PA**	4.2 (0.8)/4.1 (0.8)	3.8 (0.8)/3.9 (0.9)	2.6 (0.6)/2.6 (1.1)
Unfit (low fitness), %	0/0	14.3/19	0/0

Note. BMI = body mass index; PA = physical activity. PA: 1 = never, 2 = less than once a week, 3 = once a week, 4 = 2 to 3 days a week, 5 = most days of the week.

*Significant differences between sexes, p < .05.

**Significant differences among the three groups (organized sport, unorganized PA, and no weekly PA), p < .05.

Figure 1. Peak oxygen consumption (VO₂peak; mL·min-1·kg-1) among girls and boys in organized physical activity (PA), unorganized PA, and no weekly PA at 14 and 19 years of age.