Understanding the role of aerobic fitness in relation to young people’s health and well-being

Abstract

Background: In health-related studies, the development of aerobic fitness in youth is seldom elucidated and often misinterpreted. The issue is confused further by the use of performance data to replace or predict physiological variables.

Objectives: To address methodological issues in the determination of young people’s peak oxygen uptake (peak ₂); to examine the change in peak ₂ with chronological age; to challenge the conventional interpretation of peak ₂ in relation to body mass; to investigate the contribution of biological maturation to peak ₂; and to clarify young people’s current aerobic fitness in relation to previous generations.

Major findings: There is a progressive increase in peak ₂ with chronological age in both sexes independent of the influence of body mass. Biological maturation exerts an additional positive effect on peak ₂ in both sexes independent of chronological age and body mass. There is no compelling evidence to support a secular decrease in young people’s peak ₂ but ubiquitous data from maximal performance tests such as 20-m shuttle running have clouded the conceptual foundation of youth aerobic fitness.

Conclusion: Progress in understanding youth health and well-being requires researchers to rigorously explain and justify the physiological variable(s) investigated before using them in statistical analyses with health-related variables.

Keywords:

• Biological maturation
• Body mass
• Chronological age
• Peak oxygen uptake
• 20-m shuttle run
• Time trends