Data-Driven Monitoring of Current Situation, Trends, and Changes in Children´s Physical Fitness

Physical fitness is known to be an important resource for health. As there is a reciprocal relationship between physical fitness and physical activity, it is also a key component of an active lifestyle, now and in the future. Research on physical fitness in childhood is particularly important, as it is the critical period for the development of physical fitness, thus laying the foundation for more specific motor skills and movement patterns, and even encouraging or discouraging individuals to engage in physical activity.
Monitoring is already being used in several areas of life. In the case of children's physical fitness, systematic and continuous monitoring allows not only to assess current levels, but also to identify trends and changes, and to analyze patterns in physical fitness. The find-ings provide the basis for further strategies and interventions to promote physical fitness. In order to assess an individual´s level of physical fitness, tests items are conducted on a product level to make the latent construct apparent on an obvious level.
However, in order to generate evidence-based information and to enable knowledge of children´s physical fitness for population health monitoring, a large amount of data assessed with standardized test batteries over a long period of time is needed. ... mehrThis is lacking in recent research on physical fitness, even though open data is gaining im-portance and providing new opportunities for sufficient monitoring.
Based on this, the dissertation aims to use the data pooling approach and analyze data exploratory to provide monitoring of current situation, trends, and changes in children's physical fitness.
Four papers were included in the dissertation and an additional best practice example was presented. To provide an overview of the current state of research on trends in childhood physical fitness, a review of large-scale epidemiologic studies was conducted. Based on the findings, we discussed the possibilities of pooling data on physical fitness to over-come existing methodological problems in assessing trends. Further analyses were there-fore performed utilizing pooled samples. We used simple statistical methods, e.g. ANO-VAs, but also complex linear mixed models and considered the COVID-19 pandemic as an influencing factor of physical fitness. Results were reported comprehensively and specifically for the different dimensions of physical fitness. With the Fitness Barometer, we translated the evidence-based findings in into practice.
There has been an overall declining trend in children´s physical fitness internationally, but a stagnation on a low level has been observed for most recent years. The findings vary for the specific dimensions, but are most evident for endurance and strength. With the onset of COVID-19, the trend changed negatively, but is additionally differentiated by other variables, e.g. rural communities, high pre-pandemic fitness.
We identified an urgent need for global standardization of theoretical constructs and test batteries to further extend the pooling of different data sets and to allow comparisons of determinants of physical fitness across different groups. However, data-driven analyses are useful and valuable to analysing and identifying trends, patterns, and changes. To translate evidence-based monitoring into practice, easy-to-understand categories and practical implementations should be presented to decision makers and the public.
Due to stagnation on a low level and the fact that previous generations of children were fitter, even small losses during the critical learning years affect the long-term develop-ment of physical fitness. Standardized and continuous monitoring based on pooled da-tasets identifies the current situation, trends and changes in children's physical fitness. This can be used to make evidence-based decisions about policies and programs to sup-port children's development. Further effort should be given in collaborative research to further strengthens the opportunities of data access and development of common ap-proaches.