RT Journal Article T1 Prospective physical fitness status and development of cardiometabolic risk in children according to body fat and lifestyle behaviours: The IDEFICS study. A1 Santaliestra-Pasías, Alba M A1 Moreno, Luis A A1 Gracia-Marco, Luis A1 Buck, Christoph A1 Ahrens, Wolfgang A1 De Henauw, Stefaan A1 Hebestreit, Antje A1 Kourides, Yiannis A1 Lauria, Fabio A1 Lissner, Lauren A1 Molnar, Denes A1 Veidebaum, Toomas A1 González-Gil, Esther M A1 on behalf the IDEFICS consortium, K1 European K1 cardiometabolic K1 childhood K1 fitness K1 longitudinal AB Elevated cardiometabolic risk (CMR) is an important factor for cardiovascular diseases later in life while physical fitness seems to decrease CMR. Thus, the aim of the present study is to assess the association between muscular fitness (MF) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) on CMR in European children, both cross-sectional and longitudinally. A total of 289 children (49.5% males) from eight European countries, aged 6 to 9, with longitudinal information on blood pressure, triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, homoeostasis model assessment, body mass index, data on fitness level, objectively measured physical activity (PA), diet quality, and total screen time were included. A CMR score was calculated and dichotomized. MF and CRF were also dichotomized. Cross-sectional and longitudinal multilevel logistic regressions adjusting for lifestyle behaviours were performed. Reaching a high level of MF during childhood as well as remaining in that level over-time were associated with an 82% and 62% lower probability of high CMR at follow-up, respectively. Also, children who became top CRF over time, showed a 77% lower probability (P  A high MF at early childhood and during childhood reduces the odds of having CMR. Same occurs with the improvement of CRF during childhood. These findings highlight the importance of enhancing fitness to avoid CMR already in children. YR 2021 FD 2021-05-18 LK https://hdl.handle.net/10668/28010 UL https://hdl.handle.net/10668/28010 LA en DS RISalud RD Apr 4, 2025