Assessing physical fitness in preschool children: Feasibility, reliability and practical recommendations for the PREFIT battery

Abstract Objectives In childhood (>6 years-old) and adolescence, fitness testing is feasible, reliable and related to later health. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and reliability of a field-based fitness-test battery in preschool children. Design Repeated measures. Methods A total of 161 preschoolers aged 3 to 5 years participated in the study. Anthropometry, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength and motor fitness were tested twice (2 weeks apart) using weight, height, waist circumference, PREFIT 20 m shuttle run, handgrip strength, standing long jump, 4 × 10 m shuttle run and one-leg stance tests, respectively. Results The main results indicated that all tests are feasible and highly reliable (mean differences, weight = 0.04 kg, height = 0.22 cm, waist circumference = −0.08 cm, PREFIT 20 m shuttle run = 2.00 laps, handgrip strength = −0.24 kg and 4 × 10 m shuttle run = 0.12 s), in preschool children, except for the standing long jump test and one-leg stance test (mean differences of −7.31 cm and 8.01 s). After some methodological adaptations, reliability for standing long jump was improved in a replication study (i.e. from −7 to −2 cm). We observed evidence of heteroscedasticity in the 4 × 10 m shuttle run and one-leg stance tests. Conclusions The PREFIT battery is a feasible and reliable tool to assess physical fitness in preschool children yet standing long jump has shown mixed findings and requires further studies. The one-leg stance test showed poor reliability in our study and if confirmed by future studies, its use in 3 to 5 years-old would not be recommended. Future studies should consider the mean differences provide in this study to explain the changes in test performance.