Establishing Intra-rater Reliability of Physical Fitness Tests used in Elementary School Children between the Age of 6-14 Years: A Pilot Study

Introduction Physical fitness is a multifaceted ability of an individual to carry out activities efficiently. Childhood and adolescence are crucial periods of life when physical fitness can be built up. Several fitness test batteries that assess different dimensions of fitness have been designed and implemented. Studies have determined the reliability of a variety of fitness measures, albeit in adolescent and young adults. Given that the evaluation of fitness and the assessment of intervention of fitness programs in elementary school children is important, it is imperative that as a first step, we establish intra-rater reliability of the following commonly used tests curl up test, sit and reach test, hand grip strength test, 4x10 m shuttle run test, and 1600 m run/walk test in Indian children. Method 20 elementary school children, were tested on the fitness measures by trained field workers across three (3) trials on each test. Results Children that participated in the study had a mean age of 11.30 1.455, a mean height of 141.9 cm, a mean weight of 33.13 kg, and a mean body mass index (BMI) of 16.19 Kg/m2. The ICC of curl up, hand grip strength, sit and reach, 4x10 m shuttle run, 1600 m run/ walk test ranged from 0.91 to 0.96. Conclusion The physical fitness measures used in this study had good to excellent intra-rater reliability.