OBJECTIVES. To assess the cardiopulmonary response of healthy Hong Kong Chinese children to the treadmill test, and to identify anthropometric factors that may be related to fitness.

DESIGN. Cross-sectional study.

SETTING. University teaching hospital, Hong Kong.

PARTICIPANTS. Forty-three 8-year-old and fifty-seven 13-year-old healthy Chinese children from middle– or lower–social class families in Shatin and nearby areas.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES. The forced vital capacity, 1-second forced expiratory volume, pulse rate, and blood pressure were measured before and after undertaking the treadmill test (Bruce protocol). The endurance time until volitional exhaustion, the number of metabolic equivalents of energy used, and the sum of the skinfold thicknesses were also obtained.

RESULTS. Multiple regression analysis showed that the sum of the skinfold thicknesses was positively associated with pulse rates and diastolic blood pressure at all stages of exercise and was negatively associated with the endurance time of and number of metabolic equivalents used by the 8-year-old children. The 13-year-old children had a longer cardiopulmonary endurance than the 8-year-old children. In both age-groups, pulmonary function was positively associated with height and weight.

CONCLUSION. The study provides useful reference data for Hong Kong Chinese 8- and 13-year-old children when subjected to the treadmill test. A larger study is needed to establish the normal standards for children of all different ages.

Key words: Adolescent; Blood pressure; Body mass index; Child; Exercise test/standards; Heart rate; Respiration; Skinfold thickness

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