SEXUAL MATURITY AND PHYSICAL FITNESS OF SCHOOLCHILDREN OF ILHABELA

Abstract

Introduction: the development of physical skills is directly related to a better quality of life at all stagesof life. Objective: verify the association between sexual maturation and physical fitness of schoolchildrenaged 7 to 18 years in the city of Ilhabela. Methods: The study is part of the Mixed Longitudinal Projecton Growth, Development and Physical Fitness of Ilhabela. The study included 1,156 students of bothsexes, aged 7 to 18 years old. The variables analyzed were: body weight, height, body fat, strength of upperand lower limbs, abdominal, flexibility, agility, speed, and cardiorespiratory fitness. Sexual maturationwas analyzed according to the self-assessment method of pubic hair (P1 to P5). The linear regressionanalysis was performed and one-way ANOVA followed by post hoc Bonferroni. The level of significancewas p<0.05. Results: In boys, we found that the percentage of body fat was 11.4% higher in P1 (p=0.04)and 10.2% higher in P3 (p=0.01), compared to P5. The differences between maturational stages wereflexibility (p=0.03) in the abdominal (p=0.04) and the test push-up (p<0.01) between P2 and P5. In girls,mean values of cardiorespiratory fitness were lower (p<0.01) for those in the final stages of maturation.Conclusion: there was association between sexual maturation evaluated from the development of pubichair (P1 to P5) and physical fitness variables of students from both sexes in the city of Ilhabela, before andafter adjusting for body weight, height, BMI and adiposity.