Association of Physical Fitness Performance Tests and Anthropometric Indices in Taiwanese Adults

Po-Hung Chen; Wei Chen; Cheng-Wei Wang; Hui-Fei Yang; Wan-Ting Huang; Hsiu-Chen Huang; Che-Yi Chou

doi:10.3389/fphys.2020.583692

Association of Physical Fitness Performance Tests and Anthropometric Indices in Taiwanese Adults

Front Physiol. 2020 Nov 20:11:583692. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.583692. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Po-Hung Chen^{1

2}, Wei Chen³, Cheng-Wei Wang³, Hui-Fei Yang³, Wan-Ting Huang⁴, Hsiu-Chen Huang^{3

5}, Che-Yi Chou^{6

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Occupational Therapy, Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chiayi Christian Hospital, Chiayi City, Taiwan.
² Department of Psychiatry, Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chiayi Christian Hospital, Chiayi City, Taiwan.
³ Department of Community Health, Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chiayi Christian Hospital, Chiayi City, Taiwan.
⁴ Clinical Medicine Research Center, Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chiayi Christian Hospital, Chiayi City, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Rehabilitation, Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chiayi Christian Hospital, Chiayi City, Taiwan.
⁶ Division of Nephrology, Asia University Hospital, Wufeng, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Post-baccalaureate Veterinary Medicine, Asia University, Wufeng, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁸ Kidney Institute and Division of Nephrology, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.

Abstract

Background: The association between physical fitness performance tests and anthropometric indices is not clear. The study aims to explore the association between physical fitness performance and anthropometric indices in Taiwanese community-dwelling adults. This may help in monitoring anthropometric indices to improve physical fitness.

Methods: We recruited 2216 participants aged 23-64 years between 2014 and 2017. Physical fitness performance, including abdominal muscular endurance (60-s sit-up test), flexibility (sit-and-reach test), and cardiorespiratory endurance (3-min step test), was evaluated in all participants. The association of the physical fitness performance and anthropometric indices, including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), was analyzed using linear regression, with adjustments for age and gender.

Results: Body mass index was negatively associated with abdominal muscular endurance (p < 0.001) and cardiorespiratory endurance (p < 0.001). Neither BMI, WC, WHR, nor WHtR were significantly associated with flexibility. Abdominal muscle endurance, flexibility, and cardiorespiratory endurance were significantly lower in obese participants when obesity was defined using a BMI of ≥27, 30, and 35 kg/m². Participants with central obesity that was defined as WC ≥ 90 cm in men and 80 cm in women and WHtR ≥ 0.6 had lower abdominal muscular endurance than those without central obesity.

Conclusion: Body mass index is associated with abdominal muscular endurance and cardiorespiratory endurance in a reverse J-shaped manner. None of the anthropometric indices are significantly associated with flexibility. Obesity defined by BMI is linked to worse physical fitness performance and obesity defined using WHtR is linked to lower abdominal muscular endurance in Taiwanese community-dwelling adults.

Keywords: 60-second sit-up; anthropometric indices; body mass index; endurance; flexibility; physical fitness performance; sit-and-reach; waist-to-height ratio.