title: Obesity and Aerobic Fitness among Urban Public School Students in Elementary, Middle, and High School.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk among urban public school students through a collaborative school district and university partnership.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children and adolescents in grades K-12 from 24 urban public schools participated in measurements of height, weight, and other health metrics during the 2009-2010 school year. Body mass index (BMI) percentiles and z-scores were computed for 4673 students. President's Challenge 1-mile endurance run was completed by 1075 students ages 9-19 years. Maximal oxygen consumption (⩒O2max) was predicted using an age-, sex-, and BMI-specific formula to determine health-related fitness. Resting blood pressure (BP) was assessed in 1467 students. Regression analyses were used to compare BMI z-scores, fitness, and age- and sex-specific BP percentiles across grade levels. Chi-square tests were used to explore the effect of sex and grade-level on health-related outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on BMI, 19.8% were categorized as overweight and 24.4% were obese. Included in the obese category were 454 students (9.7% of sample) classified with severe obesity. Using FITNESSGRAM criteria, 50.2% of students did not achieve the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ); the proportion of students in the Needs Improvement categories increased from elementary to middle school to high school. Male students demonstrated higher fitness than female students, with 61.4% of boys and only 35.4% of girls meeting HFZ standards. Elevated BP was observed among 24% of 1467 students assessed. Systolic and diastolic BP z-scores revealed low correlation with BMI z-scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A community-university collaboration identified obesity, severe obesity, overweight, and low aerobic fitness to be common risk factors among urban public school students.
authors.affiliation: Program in Physical Therapy, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: B Ruth
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Saint Louis Public Schools, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: M Leanne
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Program in Physical Therapy, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nathaniel K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Royer
authors.affiliation: Program in Physical Therapy, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Tamara L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Burlis
authors.affiliation: Division of Biostatistics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nicholas C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: DuPont
authors.affiliation: Division of Biostatistics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wallendorf
authors.affiliation: Program in Physical Therapy, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Susan B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Racette
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008923:Missouri; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D012306:Risk; D012574:Schools; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students; D055815:Young Adult