PHYSICAL FITNESS AND SPORTS ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Introduction: One of the roles of physical education in school - promoting healthy habits - is not being fulfilled. Therefore, participation of children and young people in sports programs, as a strategy to help improve different components of physical fitness, has been widely used. But it is still not clear what types of sports can offer the greatest benefits. Objective: To identify the association between different components of physical fitness focused on health, and individual and collective sports in children and adolescents. Methods: 401 subjects aged between eight and 16 years participated in the study. The components of physical fitness were assessed using the PROESP - 2007 battery of tests. For the data analysis, we used the chi-square test and binary logistic regression to identify associations and their magnitudes. Results: The subjects who practiced individual sports were 1.93 and 2.32 times more likely to achieve expected values of physical fitness for body mass index and flexibility. On the other hand, those who played collective sports were 75% more likely to achieve the health criteria of physical capacity for upper limb strength. Conclusion: We conclude that the various components of health-oriented physical fitness are associated with sports in children and adolescents.