Study published in PLOS One Evidence Low cardiorespiratory performance and high energy expenditure on overweight children and adolescents. “This article shows that the realization of activities of daily life (such as going up and down a step) is carried out at high intensities in children and adolescents. This describes the bad general physical condition of the Chilean pediatric population,” explained researcher Carlos Sepúlveda.
An article recently published in the magazine PLOS ONE It reveals important findings about the physical condition of Chilean children and adolescents. The study shows that those overweight or obesity not only have lower cardiorespiratory performance, but also spend more energy and perceive more effort by performing simple physical tasks such as going up and down a step.
The study “Children and adolescents with overweight or obesity exhibit poor cardiorespiratory performance and elevated energy expenditure during an exercise task” was led by Carlos Sepúlveda, student of the Doctorate in Food and Food (Docnutal) from the University of Chile at the time of the study and today academic of the Institute of Health Sciences of the University of O’Higgins.
Cardiorespiratory (ACR) aptitude is a fundamental marker of cardiovascular and metabolic health, especially during childhood and adolescence. Its proper development allows better physical performance and prevents various chronic diseases. In this context, the study evaluated 242 children and adolescents between 8 and 16 years old, analyzing their ACR, energy expenditure and cardiovascular recovery in response to a standardized exercise task, which consisted of going up and down a bank of two steps at a frequency of 30 steps per minute (60 BPM) for 3 minutes (Escalón test).
The research identified clear differences in the maximum oxygen consumption between groups of healthy weight, overweight and obesity, both in boys and girls. Carlos Sepúlveda explains that this work revealed “two important aspects: a) the low cardiorespiratory performance in children and adolescents independent of their nutritional status compared to international reference values; b) the high energy expenditure and the high intensity when they perform the task of raising and lowering the step in children and adolescents who present overweight or independent obesity of their biological sex”.
The results also showed that overweight or obesity participants performed the task of exercise at a higher intensity, with greater heart rate, greater perception of the strongest effort and recovery times. These indicators point to lower cardiorespiratory efficiency and a poor general physical condition.
The findings offer valuable information for the design of school and community programs aimed at improving the physical condition in early stages. According to Sepúlveda, “the data of our study revealed that children and adolescents have a poor physical condition. Our results show that performing physical tasks such as raising and lowering a staircase to a standardized rhythm does not have the same impact for all people. For some it is very intense and for others it is of low intensity. This reinforces the impact or perception of physical activities within the school days, of the physical education class or the physical education class directed.
This perspective is especially relevant for the planning of more inclusive and effective physical education classes, which consider the level of individual physical condition and not only the age or course of the student.
The study also highlights the importance of evaluating energy expenditure and cardiovascular recovery as cardiometabolic health indicators. “It is important to measure energy expenditure and cardiovascular recovery because both are indicators of cardiometabolic health, especially cardiovascular recovery determined by recovery indices. In addition, very good indicators of the physical condition level are very good indicators,” says the researcher.
Finally, Sepúlveda underlines an aspect that the article highlights: the intensity with which daily activities are carried out in this population. “This article shows that the realization of activities of daily life (such as raising and lowering a step) is carried out at high intensities in children and adolescents. This describes the bad general physical condition of the Chilean pediatric population. It also puts a red flag about the standardization of the intensities when performing physical exercise, where in some individuals it can be at low intensity and others at very high, being able to be well adhesion to physical activity, ”he concludes.
Reference: Sepúlveda C, Monsalves-Álvarez M, Troncoso R, Weisstaub G (2025) Children and adolescents with overweight or obesity exhibit poor cardiorespiratory performance and elevated energy expenditure during an exercise task. PLoS One 20(7): e0327875.
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