AbstractBackground: The ability to perform daily tasks with vigor and alertness without experiencing excessive fatigue and having enough energy to engage in leisure activities, as well as to handle a variety of unexpected situations and emergencies, is known as physical fitness. Adults are currently classified (categorized) into groups based on their anthropometric height/weight characteristics, which are defined by the body mass index (BMI). The purpose of BMI and physical fitness is to track their general health and wellbeing. Numerous advantages can result from regularly participating in physical fitness activities and maintaining a healthy BMI. It has been shown to boost vitality, lower the risk of chronic illnesses, improve mental health, improve cardiovascular health, and even boost academic achievement. By researching this, we can find and create ways to encourage healthy behaviors and help college students lead balanced lives.
Aim: The current study's objective was to assess the correlation between college-bound students' body mass index and physical fitness.
Method: We looked for studies on physical activity, fitness, and overweight in adolescents aged 10 to 16 (cross-sectional studies) and in adolescents aged up to 24 (longitudinal studies) published in English in or after 2010 using the electronic academic databases PubMed, SportDiscus, WEB OF KNOWLEDGE, and Ovid.
Results: Three longitudinal studies and seven cross-sectional studies were included. Adolescent obesity, physical activity, and fitness were examined in just three studies, with varying degrees of success. Every other study examined the connection between fitness and overweight or between physical activity and overweight. Physical activity was inversely correlated with being overweight, including obese. Similarly, all studies found a negative relationship between physical fitness and overweight. The relationship between BMI, fitness, and physical activity was found to have mediator and moderator effects. Overall, it is difficult to distinguish between being overweight and being physically inactive or unfit.
Conclusion: The paucity of research on the relationship between BMI, fitness, and physical activity highlights the need for long-term studies that would 1) show that physical activity causes overweight or fitness causes overweight, and 2) show that physical activity causes fitness and overweight. The lack of differentiation between self-reported and objective physical activity, as well as the exclusion of studies examining cardiovascular disease or the metabolic syndrome, call for careful interpretation of these findings. Uncertainty surrounds the significance of fitness or physical activity in predicting overweight.