Unveiling the relationship of physical literacy with muscular fitness and muscle-strengthening activities in adolescents: the EHDLA study.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the relationship between physical literacy (PL) and muscular fitness (MF) as well as muscle-strengthening activities (MSA) in adolescents.

METHODS: A secondary cross-sectional study included 823 adolescents (45.1% boys) from the Eating Healthy and Daily Life Activities Study. The Spanish Perceived Physical Literacy Instrument for Adolescents (S-PPLI) assessed the participants' perceived PL. The evaluation of MF in the young population was conducted using the Assessing the Levels of Physical Activity and Fitness (ALPHA-FIT) test battery. MSA were assessed by the following question: 'In the past week, how many days did you exercise to strengthen or tone the muscle, such as through push-ups, sit-ups or lifting weights?' To examine the associations between S-PPLI scores and handgrip strength, standing long jump and MSA days in adolescents, we employed generalised additive models.

RESULTS: Participants with high perceived physical literacty (PPL) had the highest handgrip strength (mean=25.1; PPL had the highest handgrip strength (mean=25.1; bias-corrected and accelerated ( BCa ) bootstrapped 95% CI 24.2 to 26.0) and standing long jump (mean=149.7; confidence interval (CI) 24.2 to 26.0) and standing long jump (mean=149.7; 24.2 to 26.0) and standing long jump (mean=149.7; BCa bootstrapped 95% CI 145.8 to 153.5). Conversely, those adolescents with low PPL had the lowest handgrip strength (mean=23.1; BCa bootstrapped 95% CI 22.3 to 23.8) and standing long jump (mean=137.3; BCa bootstrapped 95% CI 133.9 to 140.6). For MSA, adolescents with high PPL had the highest mean of MSA days (mean=3.0; BCa bootstrapped 95% CI 2.8 to 3.3), while the lowest mean was observed for those with low PPL (mean=2.0; BCa bootstrapped 95% CI 1.8 to 2.2).

CONCLUSION: A high level of PL was associated with higher levels of MF and MSA among Spanish adolescents.