Reference values for maximum work capacity in relation to body composition in healthy Dutch children

Exercise performance is associated with physical development. For sick children, there is a need for parameters reflecting exercise performance, which should be easy to measure and should take their nutritional state into account. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between maximum work-load (Wmax) and body weight (BW) as well as fat-free mass (FFM) in healthy children performing an incremental maximum exercise test on a bicycle ergometer, and to develop reference values for Wmax corrected for nutritional state. A random sample of 158 children (77 boys and 81 girls), aged 12-18 yrs, underwent an incremental maximum exercise test on a bicycle ergometer. BW and FFM were also measured. Correlation analysis showed a significant association (p < 0.001) between BW and Wmax (boys: r = 0.82; girls: r = 0.73), and between FFM and Wmax (boys: r = 0.89; girls: r = 0.79). Two-way analysis of variance showed a significant effect of gender on variance of Wmax/BW ratio as well as Wmax/FFM ratio. The influence of age was significant for Wmax/FFM (p = 0.003), but not for Wmax/BW. The maximum workload/body weight ratio and the maximum workload/fat-free mass ratio are useful parameters of work capacity in bicycle exercise testing in children. The reference values (mean, SD, median, and percentiles) for boys and girls aged 12-18 years can be used to predict workload corrected for body composition in healthy and sick children.

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