International Congress of Applied Sports Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria 2019
Second International Congress of Applied Sports Sciences
&
First Balkan Scientific Congress 'Physical Education, Sports, Health'
Sofia 2019
Bulgaria, Sofia, National Sports Academy
website: www.nsa.bg
ABOUT THE CONGRESS
The International Scientific Congress of Applied Sports Sciences (ICASS) is organised by the National Sports Academy 'Vassil Levski' (NSA) every two years, and it is the biggest event in sport science in Bulgaria. This year was held the 2nd ICASS Congress in Sofia, on 15-16 November 2019. It was also joined with the First Balkan Scientific Congress 'Physical Education, Sports, Health'. A total of 317 participants from 21 countries took part in the Congress.
OUR CONTRIBUTION
At this Congress, Dr Iveta Bonova presented findings from our study in the parallel sessions of the ICASS Sofia on 16 November 2019. The study was part of our one-year project 'Methods for the Assessment of Physical Fitness and Physical Development in Primary School Children' funded by the NSA. Prior to the Congress we submitted a full-length article, which was reviewed and published in the Proceeding Book of the International Scientific Congress 'Applied Sports Sciences' & Balkan Scientific Congress 'Physical Education, Sports, Health' 2019.
Physical fitness levels of Bulgarian primary school children in relationship to overweight and obesity
Presentation in the Parallel Sessions
2nd International Congress 'Applied Sports Sciences'
Physical fitness levels of Bulgarian primary school children in relationship to overweight and obesity
I. Bonova, S. Kolimechkov, O. Hristov, B. Petrova, N. Kostova & A. Vekova
National Sports Academy 'Vassil Levski', Sofia, Bulgaria
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Physical fitness has shown to be a major factor, which can predict the health status in the later phases of children’s life. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to provide estimates for overweight and obesity in a sample of primary school children from Bulgaria and to determine possible relation with health-related fitness parameters.
Methodology:
This study consisted of 118 primary school children (64 girls and 54 boys from Sofia, Bulgaria) between the ages of 7 and 11. The participants completed the extended version of the Alpha-Fit health-related physical fitness test battery, which includes measurements (height, weight, waist circumference, triceps and subscapular skinfolds), as well as variety of different tests (handgrip strength, standing long jump, 4x10 m shuttle run test, and 20 m multistage fitness test).
Results:
The mean percentile scores of height, weight and BMI in all participants were within the WHO norms. However, the individual BMI assessment showed that 18% of all primary school children were ‘overweight’ (BMI > 85th percentile), 12% were ‘obese’ (BMI > 97th percentile), and 11% were assessed as ‘thinness’ (BMI < 15th percentile).
Discussion:
Although, the mean percentile scores of BMI and %BF for the whole sample provided an accurate assessment of body composition, some individuals were assessed as ‘overweight’ according to their BMI, but their percentile scores for %BF was within the norms.
Conclusions:
The results of this study showed that lower levels of physical fitness are associated with overweight and obesity in primary school children.
Presentation: Physical fitness levels of Bulgarian primary school children in relationship to overweight and obesity
Presenting Author: Iveta Bonova PhD
Date & time: Saturday, 16th November 2019
Parallel Session 'Health, Fitness, Sports Medicine', National Sports Academy,
Hall A4, 9:00 am, Sofia (Bulgaria)
Chairs: Prof. Diana Dimitrova PhD (Bulgaria)
and Prof. Czesław Urbanik PhD (Poland)
Physical fitness levels of Bulgarian primary school children in relationship to overweight and obesity
Related Documents
Authors
Oleg Hristov PhD
Borislava Petrova
Nadezhda Kostova PhD
Anna Vekova
Contact information with the corresponding author: csars_ibonova@nsa.bg
How to cite this study?
A full-length article about this study was published in the Proceeding Book of this Congress, so you can cite it as follows:
Bonova, I., Kolimechkov, S., Hristov, O., Petrova, B., Kostova, N. & Vekova, A. (2019). Physical fitness levels of Bulgarian primary school children in relationship to overweight and obesity. In T. Iancheva (Ed.), International Scientific Congress 'Applied Sports Sciences' 2019 (pp. 335-339). Sofia, Bulgaria: NSA Press.
2nd International Congress of Applied Sports Sciences, Sofia 2019
