Urban-rural disparity in physical fitness of elementary schoolchildren in Taiwan

Background Childhood fitness is generally evaluated by a battery of health‐related estimators to assess pediatric health status. More so than the fitness level at any other stage of life, the level of physical fitness in childhood will have a marked effect on an individual's physical development and overall health in adolescence and adulthood. This paper contributes to this issue by investigating the differences in the distribution of the physical fitness of elementary schoolchildren aged 9–12 by gender, region and ethnicity. Methods Data were drawn from a nationwide dataset of physical fitness test profiles of elementary school students, conducted by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan in 2008. In total, 134 546 schoolchildren in fourth to sixth grade aged from 9 to 12 were included. Three components of physical fitness are measured: explosive power; muscle strength; and flexibility. Each fitness test was carried out by the school teachers during physical education classes. A statistical test procedure was then used to test the distribution differences in each category of physical fitness by age, gender and region. By further using the official recommended levels, the proportions of schoolchildren who have poor physical fitness performance were also examined. Results In general, boys have better physical fitness than girls except in the area of flexibility. In addition to gender differences, the present results are supportive of there being differences in the rural and urban populations. The rural children perform better than urban children in bent‐leg curl‐ups and standing long jump tests. Conclusions Physical fitness has been recognized not only as an integrated predictor of the body's functional status, but also as an important marker of health outcomes. Although considerable attention had been paid to examining the urban–rural differences in physical fitness, it is necessary to further consider the differences in ethnicity.