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. 2023 Jul 31:11:e15765.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.15765. eCollection 2023.

International fitness scale (IFIS): association with motor performance in children with obesity

Mariangela Valentina Puci  1   2 , Caterina Cavallo  3 , Alessandro Gatti  4 , Vittoria Carnevale Pellino  4   5 , Daniela Lucini  6   7 , Valeria Calcaterra  8   9 , Gianvincenzo Zuccotti  8   10 , Nicola Lovecchio  11 , Matteo Vandoni  4
Affiliations

International fitness scale (IFIS): association with motor performance in children with obesity

Mariangela Valentina Puci et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

Background: Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health; and compared with their normal-weight peers, these individuals tend to have a lower level of self-confidence, and consequently lower physical activity adherence. Due to these self-perceived barriers, the aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of an online training program on self-reported physical fitness (SRPF) in children with obesity (OB).

Methods: A total of 32 children with OB carried out physical fitness (PF) tests and were asked to complete the International Fitness Enjoyment Scale (IFIS) questionnaire. The physical fitness tests were the Standing Broad Jump (SBJ), the 6-Min Walking Test (6MWT) and the 4 × 10 m sprint test. Children participated in a 3-weekly 60-min training session through Zoom platform. Before the beginning of the training protocol, OB children were compared with normal weight (NW) ones for PF batteries and the IFIS questionnaire. Changes in performances after the training were assessed by paired Student t and Wilcoxon tests.

Results: After the online training program children increased their performance in 6MWT (mean difference (MD) = 54.93; p < 0.0001) in SBJ (MD = 10.00; p = 0.0001) and in 4 × 10 m sprint test (MD = -0.78; p < 0.0001). No differences were found in children's physical fitness perception.

Discussion: Our study highlighted how a structured online training program can lead to improvements in PF of children with OB. Instead, the lack of differences in SRPF after the training suggests interesting questions to be explored on the aspects linked to self-perception. Therefore, even if our training protocol could not directly improve SRPF in children with obesity, the enhancement of their PF could be a starting point for achieving this result with a longer training period and consequently improve PA participation for children with OB.

Keywords: COVID-19; Children with obesity; International fitness scale (IFIS); Motor performance; Physical test batteries.

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Conflict of interest statement

Matteo Vandoni and Vittoria Carnevale Pellino are Academic Editors for PeerJ.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. SBJ, 6MWT, and 4 × 10 values pre- and after the online training.
1A: SBJ; 1B: 6MWT and 1C: 4 × 10 m. 1A, mean values (95% Confidence interval); 1B, median (IQR); 1C, median (IQR). SBJ, standing broad jump; 6MWT, 6-minutes walking test; m, meters.
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