Oxygen Uptake and Endurance Fitness in Children, Revisited

While much progress has been achieved, many questions surrounding the identification of the critical factors that lie behind the development of endurance fitness during childhood remain largely unresolved. Continued efforts to solve these mysteries offer promise for not only better understanding the determinants of performance in children but also a clearer understanding of the basic mechanism underpinning exercise capacity at all ages. It is reasonable to suggest that the conclusion of the 1989 article remains unchanged. Alterations of endurance performance in growing children are concomitantly influenced by anatomic changes (increasing stride length during the growth process), VO 2max (training effects), and possibly development of dimensionindependent factors (such as anaerobic capacity and neurologic function). It may be expected then that the relationship between VO 2max and endurance fitness in the growing child may be more complex than that recognized in adult subjects. © 2013 Human Kinetics, Inc.