PHYSICAL FITNESS LEVELS OF BULGARIAN PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN RELATIONSHIP TO OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY

The health-related physical fitness of children, alongside overweight and obesity rates, have been shown to be of great interest amongst physical education teachers, sports coaches, scientists, and health practitioners. Physical fitness is a major factor, which can predict the health status in the later phases of children lives. The aim of this study was to assess the health-related physical fitness levels in primary school children, in addition to providing estimates for overweight and obesity for children at this age. This study consisted of 118 primary school children (64 girls and 54 boys from Sofia, Bulgaria) between the ages of 7 and 11. The participants completed the Alpha-Fit health-related physical fitness test battery, which included anthropometric measurements and different tests (handgrip strength, standing long jump, 4x10m shuttle run test, and 20m multistage fitness test). The mean percentile scores of height, weight and BMI in all participants were within the WHO norms. However, the individual BMI assessment showed that 20.3% of all primary school children were ‘overweight’ (BMI > 85th percentile), 8.5% were ‘obese’ (BMI > 97th percentile), and 13.5% were assessed as ‘thin’ (BMI < 15th percentile). The results of this study showed that lower levels of physical fitness are associated with overweight and obesity in primary school children.