Report Card Brazil: systematic review of muscle strength assessment in children and adolescents in Brazil

ABSTRACT The present study aimed to identify and summarize evidence regarding muscle strength (MS) levels in school children and adolescents (≤ 19 years) in Brazil in order to update previously published evidence from the Report Card Brazil project. The systematic search for information was conducted in seven databases, restricted to studies published during the period from January 2018 to December 2019. Thirteen studies were included, which gathered information from 10,135 children and adolescents from seven Brazilian states. Different tests/protocols for assessing MS were identified, however, handgrip strength was the test most adopted in studies (53.8%). The prevalence of children and adolescents with MS levels considered healthy was 29.8%, considering the totality of information, and 27.6% for males and 31.8% for females. Considering full data reviewed by the Report Card Brazil project (data analyzed in this study in addition to those previously published), information regarding the assessment of MS levels in children and adolescents in Brazil came from studies conducted during the period from 2010 to 2019, which included a sample of 15,208 children and adolescents (aged 7-19 years). According to this information, the prevalence of children and adolescents with MS levels considered healthy in this period was 57.8%, 61.1% for males and 58.8% for females.

Reference Values of Standing Long Jump in Preschool Children: A Population-Based Study

Purpose:The purpose of this study was to examine age and sex differences in standing long jump (SLJ) and to determine norm-referenced values for Spanish preschool children.Method:A total of 3555 children, aged 3–6 years, participated in this study (1746 girls and 1809 boys). To measure explosive leg power, the SLJ was used.Results:In the analysis of reliability using test-retest with 86 children (48% boys, age = 56.22 ± 10.34 months), the following descriptive results were obtained (mean, SD): at pretest = 76.53 ± 20.20 cm, at retest = 74.56 ± 21.12 cm (p = .124), and an intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.913 (95% confidence interval = 0.866–0.943). Boys exhibited a greater performance than girls at 3- to 5-years old, but no significant differences were found at 6 years old. In whole group, the SLJ performance was higher with increased age. However, no significant differences were found between boys aged 5 and 6 years.Conclusion:This study provides references values for muscle strength assessment through SLJ test carried out on a large sample of Spanish preschoolers.