Japanese Adolescents Are the Most Physically Fit and Active in East and Southeast Asia

Abstract

We compared the level of physical activity, physical fitness, and obesity of adolescents among major metropolitan cities in East and Southeast Asia. A total of 12,588 valid adolescents’ data (age 12-15 years) were collected from eight major metropolitan cities in East and Southeast Asia. Analytic items included body mass index (BMI), self-reported moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and whether or not students engaged in sports club activity. Physical fitness tests included Sit-and-reach Test, Hand Grip test, 1 Minute Sit-up Test and 15 meters Progressive Aerobic Capacity Endurance Run (PACER) Test All measures of Japanese adolescents were significantly (p<0.05) greater than the other adolescents. In particular, the effect sizes relating to endurance fitness, and MVPA were much higher than the effect sizes on the other measures. These findings suggested that Japanese adolescents were the most physically fit and active in Asian adolescents.