title: Short-term tracking of performance and health-related physical fitness in girls: the Healthy Growth in Cariri Study.
abstract: The main purpose of this study was to track the performance and health-related physical fitness of girls from Brazil's Cariri region. In the "Healthy Growth in Cariri Study", 294 girls from public and private schools were divided into four age cohorts--8, 10, 12, and 14 years--and followed for three consecutive years, with an assessment every 6 months. Shuttle run, hand grip, standing long jump, trunk lift, curl-up, 12-min run, and fatness were used to rate physical fitness performance and health-related components on each of six occasions. Tracking was done in a stepwise manner, using auto-correlation, by modelling the individual history of change in performance of each girl, and using Foulkes and Davies' γ-coefficient. SPSS 18.0 and TIMEPATH were used for data analysis. Auto-correlations evidenced low-to-moderate values in almost all components of performance and health-related physical fitness. Intra-individual tracking analysis showed large variation in all fitness components as a result of a wide spread in individual history of change in fitness performance. Population estimates of γ were low in all tests. Our results show low-to-moderate tracking of physical fitness components of girls. A wide range of intra-individual and inter-variability in fitness development was observed.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Educação Física, Universidade Regional do Cariri, Juazeiro do Norte, Brazil. simonete_silva@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Simonete Pereira
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Da Silva
authors.forename: Gaston
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Beunen
authors.forename: António
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prista
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maia
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000293:Adolescent; D001823:Body Composition; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D009068:Movement; D053580:Muscle Strength; D005082:Physical Exertion; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012420:Running; D012984:Software; D014891:Weight Lifting