ArticleChildren (Basel, Switzerland)2026
Sex-Related Differences in Adolescent Physical Fitness, Physical Activity Levels and Enjoyment: A Two-Year Follow-Up of Italian Middle School Students.
Article in Children (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis two-year longitudinal study examined sex-specific changes and interrelations among body composition, physical fitness, physical activity (PA) enjoyment and PA levels during early adolescence.
methodsA cohort of 266 Italian middle school students (boys: n = 139; girls: n = 127) was assessed at two time points across two consecutive school years using anthropometry, field-based fitness tests, the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale Questionnaire (Italian version) and a PA frequency questionnaire. Repeated-measures ANOVAs were used to explore time and time × sex effects, and correlations between change scores were calculated to explore associations between variables.
resultsBMI increased in both sexes, while fat mass decreased in boys and increased in girls. Boys showed greater gains in cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength, whereas girls maintained better flexibility. Moderate PA and overall moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) increased over time, with stronger positive associations between changes in PA enjoyment and MVPA in boys.
conclusionThese findings describe sex-specific patterns in physical fitness, body composition, and physical activity during early adolescence, and may help inform future research on sex-sensitive, individualized physical education approaches.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.