Exploring shuttle run test performance and adiposity indices among Italian high school students: a comparative analysis with European norms

Despite the recent decline in physical fitness, only a few studies were conducted on speed-agility (SA) trends and they have contrasting results about the trend of SA. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the SA performance of Italian high school students and to compare the results with European normative data. Furthermore, we analyzed how the adiposity indices were related to SA performance in adolescents to help coaches and physical education teachers to better tailor their activities. A total of 627 high school students aged between 14 to 18 years were recruited in 2019 from a single high school in Northern Italy. To assess SA we used the 10x5m shuttle run test, while to evaluate anthropometric characteristics we assessed weight, height, waist circumference, BMI, Waist-to-height ratio, TMI and fat mass. SA performance was found higher only for 15 years old males and for 14 and 15 years old female groups, while no differences were found for other age groups. Age-related performance shows no differences between male and female students. The correlation between the anthropometric indices and SA performance showed a poor relation (p<0.01) for males but not for females. We found that the SA seems poorly related to anthropometric characteristics and age (ranging from 14 to 18). In addition, our results showed that the SA performance of Italian adolescents is similar to, or even better than, the normative data from Europe. These results provide crucial information for physical education teachers to promote and evaluate SA in high school students.