LATEBREAKER
Perinatal & Pediatric
Latino children’s physical fitness varies by place of birth and sex: Findings from New York City public school students 2006-2019 Emily M. D’Agostino* Emily D’Agostino Karen R. Flórez Caroline Nguyen Sophia Day Kevin Konty Kira Argenio Terry T. Huang Cody D. Neshteruk Brooke E. Wagner Hannah R. Thompson
Purpose: United States (US) minoritized and recent immigrant youth disproportionately experience health disparities in fitness, an established proxy of present and future health. Fitness differences by place of birth (POB) could exacerbate inequities in adulthood chronic disease development. This study examined fitness differences among Latino youth by POB and sex.
Methods: This cross-sectional study drew data from the NYC FITNESSGRAM (2006-2019) for public school Latino youth (grades 4&5) with objectively-measured fitness (n=376,466). Sex-/age-specific performance by POB was assessed using healthy fitness zones (HFZ) defined by The Cooper Institute as individual fitness sufficient for good overall health. Generalized estimating equations with a random effect for school were used to examine youth achievement of HFZ for aerobic capacity, muscular strength, and muscular endurance tests.
Results: The sample included 49% females, 25.6% English Language Learners, mean age=9.36±0.60 years with 20.8% overall prevalence of not achieving HFZ for all three tests. Models adjusted for sex, age, grade level, English-language learner, home language, school, neighborhood linguistic isolation, and neighborhood poverty showed that NYC-born students had a higher likelihood of not achieving all three HFZ (RR=1.12; 95%CI 1.08,1.15) versus US-born (non-NYC) students. Central America-born (RR=0.94; 95%CI 0.85,1.03) and Dominican-born (RR=0.92; 95%CI 0.86,0.99) students had the lowest likelihood of not achieving all three HFZ versus US-born (non-NYC) students. Sex-stratified models showed that male and female Dominican-born students had 0.86 (95%CI 0.79,0.95) and 0.97 (95%CI 0.89,1.05) the likelihood of not achieving all three HFZ, versus US-born (non-NYC) male and female students, respectively.
Conclusions: Fitness heterogeneity for Latino children highlights the need for tailored physical fitness programs and policies to reduce disparities, especially in large urban settings.