title: Physical fitness percentile charts for children aged 6-10 from Portugal.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study aims (1) to provide reference percentile charts for the following measures of Physical Fitness (PF): the sit-and-reach, handgrip, standing long jump, 50 yards' dash, 4x10m shuttle run and 1-mile run/walk tests in children aged 6 to 10 years, and (2) to compare the performance of the Portuguese children with their age- and sex peers.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 3804 Portuguese children (1985 boys and 1819 girls) aged 6-10 years old participated in this study. The sample was stratified from 20 public elementary schools and children were randomly selected in each school. Charts were separately built for each sex using the LMS method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Boys showed better results than girls in handgrip, standing long jump, 50 yards' dash, 4x10 m shuttle run and 1-mile run/walk, while girls are better performers than boys in sit-and-reach.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Age- and gender- percentiles for a set of physical fitness tests for 6-10 year old (primary school) Portuguese children have been established. Boys showed greater overall PF than girls, except in the flexibility test, in which girls performed better. The reported normative values provide ample opportunities to accurately detect individual changes during childhood. These reference values are especially important in healthcare and educational settings, and can be added to the worldwide literature on physical fitness values in children.
authors.affiliation: CIFI2D, Faculdade de Desporto Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal - msroriz@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Roriz De Oliveira
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seabra
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Eisenmann
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maia
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010809:Physical Fitness; D011174:Portugal; D012737:Sex Factors