title: Physical fitness, weight, smoking, and exercise patterns in young adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The health and physical fitness of adolescents and young adults are important not just to the individuals concerned, but also to society as a whole. Many studies from many different countries have dealt with the prevalence of overweight, the risk factors for it, and the morbidity it causes, but no more than a few have addressed the effects of unhealthy lifestyles on physical fitness. In this study, we show that young adults' physical performance depends on the number of risk factors they possess. We also compare the young adults' physical performance with that of adolescents aged 10 to 17.
  
  
  METHODS
  We obtained cross-sectional data on the weight, smoking status, athletic activity, time to run 1 km, and ability to perform a chin-up on a horizontal bar of 8048 subjects aged 10 to 25. The young adults were divided into groups depending on the number of risk factors they possessed from the following list: overweight, smoking, and lack of exercise.
  
  
  RESULTS
  28.4% of the men and 35.4% of the women aged 18 to 25 had none of these risk factors and exhibited the best physical performance. The more risk factors were present, the worse physical performance became. The 24- and 25-year-olds performed at the same level as the 14- and 15-year-olds.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Unhealthy lifestyles can impair physical fitness even before any chronic disease arises. Possession of even a single risk factor is associated with significantly worse performance. Unless comprehensive and effective interventions are introduced in school and at work, the further cementation and worsening of unhealthy lifestyles will be hard to stop.
authors.affiliation: German Sport University Cologne-Institute of Physiology and Anatomy, Germany. Leyk@dshs-koeln.de
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Leyk
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rüther
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Witzki
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sievert
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moedl
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blettner
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hackfort
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Löllgen
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010809:Physical Fitness; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult