Abstract:

Aerobic capacity is considered to be an indicator of future health risks associated with chronic diseases arising from sedentary lifestyle. Due to difficulties in performing the tests for measuring aerobic capacity such as environmental, equipmental, or individual factors, other parameters that are easier to measure and can be used to predict aerobic capacity gain importance. This study aimed to assess the body fat percentage for estimating aerobic capacity among sedentary and recreational athlete groups of pre-adolescent male and female individuals. A total of 85 participants aged 8–13 years were divided into sedentary and recreational athlete groups according to the responses of verbal interviews. The anthropometric characteristics (height, weight, body mass index, and body fat percentage) of all participants were measured, and then the participants performed progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run test to determine aerobic capacity in accordance with Fitnessgram test battery instructions. Sedentary- and recreational groupadjusted body fat percentages were moderately correlated with aerobic capacity in the negative direction (r = –,546, p < ,05), while gender-adjusted body fat percentages were in negative strong correlation with the aerobic capacity (r = –,803, p < ,05). Similarly, the two parameters were strongly correlated in the negative direction in all of the participants (r = –,800, p < ,01). It can be concluded that there is a reciprocal and continuous cycle between body fat percentage and aerobic capacity among both sedentary and recreationally active individuals. The findings of this research support that body fat percentage indicates aerobic capacity, but researches with larger sample sizes administered in equal environmental and equipmental conditions should be planned for more accurate results.

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