Évaluation de la condition physique durant l’enfance dans le nord de la France : le programme Diagnoform

Abstract Background A high level of physical fitness is associated with cardiovascular health in adolescents. We describe change in physical fitness levels assessed at two time points over 3 years. Methods The study presents a longitudinal design, with the first phase data collection at 8 years and the second phase carried out at 11 years. A total of 516 children (254 boys) aged to 7.7 ± 0.4 years (in 2010) and 10.9 ± 0.4 years (in 2010) and 10.9  ±  0.4 years (in 2013) participated to the study. Cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, speed, and agility were assessed in this study. For each physical fitness test, determination of the situation (in terms of percentiles) of each child in 2010 and then in 2013 compared to national standards. The 2010 and 2013 percentiles are then compared using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results Muscular strength, agility and cardiorespiratory fitness decrease in both sex (p  Conclusions Our results indicate that the physical fitness of French youth decrease between childhood and early adolescence. Developing and introducing a health promotion curriculum in the French schools is suggested to improve health and physical fitness.