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Thomas Rowland, MD; Gregory Kline, PhD; Donna Goff, MS; Leslie Martel, MEd; Lisa Ferrone, MS

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1999;153:845-849.

Background  Endurance run tests are administered in schools to assess cardiovascular fitness, defined in the laboratory as maximum oxygen consumption.

Objective  To examine the validity of this concept, assessing the influences of body fat and maximum values of oxygen consumption per unit time, stroke volume, heart rate, and arteriovenous oxygen difference on 1-mile (1.6-km) run time in healthy sixth-grade boys.

Study Design  Subjects were 36 boys with a mean (SD) age of 12.2 (0.5) years. The relationship was examined between body fat content (estimated by skinfold measurements) and maximum oxygen consumption per kilogram and cardiac variables (during maximum cycle testing) with 1-mile run velocity.

Results  Body fat content and maximum oxygen consumption per kilogram (independent of body fat) accounted for 31% and 28% of the variance in run velocity, respectively. Stroke volume was the only component of maximum oxygen consumption that related to run performance.

Conclusions  These findings suggest that cardiovascular fitness and body fat content contribute equally to 1-mile run time in healthy boys and together account for only 60% of the variance in performance on this endurance fitness test. Consequently, 1-mile run performance in children may not serve as a strong indicator of cardiovascular fitness.

From the Department of Pediatrics, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, Mass (Dr Rowland and Ms Ferrone); the Department of Exercise Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Dr Kline and Ms Goff); and the Agawam Public Schools, Agawam, Mass (Ms Martel).

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