title: Indices of abdominal adiposity and cardiorespiratory fitness test performance in middle-school students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous research suggests that use of BMI as a screening tool to assess health in youth has limitations. Valid alternative measures to assess body composition are needed to accurately identify children who are aerobically fit, which is an indicator of health status. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between select anthropometric measures and cardiorespiratory fitness test performance in middle-school students.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants included 134 students (65 boys and 69 girls) recruited from the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Anthropometric measures consisted of BMI, waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and percent body fat estimated from two-site skinfolds (%BF-SKF), as well as the hand-held OMRON BIA device (%BF-BIA). Cardiorespiratory fitness tests included the one-mile run and PACER test. Data were collected on four separate testing days during the students' physical education classes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were statistically significant moderate correlations between the %BF estimations, WHtR, and cardiorespiratory fitness test scores in both genders (P < .001). BMI at best only displayed weak correlations with the cardiorespiratory fitness test scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that alternative measures such as %BF-SKF, %BF-BIA, and WHtR may be more valid indicators of youth aerobic fitness lending to their preferred use over BMI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of Utah, College of Health, 250 S. 1850 E., HPER North RM 241, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. ryan.d.burns@utah.edu
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hannon
authors.forename: Timothy A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Brusseau
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shultz
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eisenman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001823:Body Composition; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012737:Sex Factors; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D055105:Waist Circumference