TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations between swimming & cycling abilities and fitness in 9-11 year old boys and girls
AU - Richards, Amie B.
AU - Klos, Leon
AU - Swindell, Nils
AU - Griffiths, Lucy J.
AU - De Martelaer, Kristine
AU - Edwards, Lowri C.
AU - Brophy, Sinead
AU - Stratton, Gareth
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2021/12/22
Y1 - 2021/12/22
N2 - The associations between swimming and cycling abilities and fitness levels in 9–11-year-old children were examined. A cross-sectional study involving 2258 children (50.7% boys; aged 10.52 ± 0.6 years) from 33 schools across Wales, participated in Swan/BridgeLinx health, fitness, and lifestyle programmes between 2013–2019. Health and fitness data were collected; namely body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, flexibility, power, and speed using standardised measures. Children completed an online survey collecting data on swimming and cycling abilities and sports club attendance. Multivariate multilevel regressions were used to examine the associations between measures. The ability to swim and cycle was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with all components of fitness when accounting for age, body mass index (BMI), deprivation, gender, and sports club attendance. Boys outperformed girls with significant interactions between swimming, cycling and cardiorespiratory fitness for gender by swim (p = 0.001) and gender by cycle (p = 0.015). The gender by cycle interaction significantly predicted grip strength and power (p < 0.05). Swimming and cycling are important “milestones” in the journey of motor development and are associated with higher levels of fitness. These activities should be promoted to allow for an optimal development of motor skills, fitness, and health.
AB - The associations between swimming and cycling abilities and fitness levels in 9–11-year-old children were examined. A cross-sectional study involving 2258 children (50.7% boys; aged 10.52 ± 0.6 years) from 33 schools across Wales, participated in Swan/BridgeLinx health, fitness, and lifestyle programmes between 2013–2019. Health and fitness data were collected; namely body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, flexibility, power, and speed using standardised measures. Children completed an online survey collecting data on swimming and cycling abilities and sports club attendance. Multivariate multilevel regressions were used to examine the associations between measures. The ability to swim and cycle was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with all components of fitness when accounting for age, body mass index (BMI), deprivation, gender, and sports club attendance. Boys outperformed girls with significant interactions between swimming, cycling and cardiorespiratory fitness for gender by swim (p = 0.001) and gender by cycle (p = 0.015). The gender by cycle interaction significantly predicted grip strength and power (p < 0.05). Swimming and cycling are important “milestones” in the journey of motor development and are associated with higher levels of fitness. These activities should be promoted to allow for an optimal development of motor skills, fitness, and health.
KW - Children
KW - cycling
KW - fitness
KW - motor competence
KW - swimming
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121832829&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/02640414.2021.2013616
DO - 10.1080/02640414.2021.2013616
M3 - Article
C2 - 34937493
AN - SCOPUS:85121832829
SN - 0264-0414
VL - 40
SP - 658
EP - 666
JO - Journal of Sports Sciences
JF - Journal of Sports Sciences
IS - 6
ER -