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Revista Portuguesa de Ciências do Desporto, 2002, vol. 2, nº 4 [92–111]92

Studies in Somatic Growth, Biological Maturation, Physical Fitnessand Activity in Portuguese Speaking Countries: an Overview

DL FreitasUniversity of MadeiraDepartment of Physical Education and SportsJA Maia, AT MarquesUniversity of OportoFaculty of Sports Sciences and Physical Education

ABSTRACTThe present study has the following purposes: (1) to presentand situate the studies made in the Community of PortugueseSpeaking Countries and (2) to present some recommendationsfor future investigations. Seventeen studies are considered andthe following conclusions are drawn: (1) almost the totality ofthe studies present a cross-sectional design; (2) in theCommunity of Portuguese Speaking Countries context, theheight and weight of Portuguese and Brazilian children are near-ly coincident while the youngsters of Mozambique are shorterand less heavy. The children from Cabo Verde and Mozambiquehave less subcutaneous fat than the Portuguese and Brazilianchildren. On sit and reach, Mozambique presents the best per-formances but the opposite holds true for sit ups. On 12-minuterun/walk, Portuguese perform better than Brazilians; (3) inEuropean context, boys and girls from Brazil and Mozambiqueare slightly shorter than Belgians. Children and youth fromMozambique are less heavy and have lower subcutaneous fatlevels than Belgian children. On sit and reach Mozambique boysand girls perform better than their Belgian peers. Future growthstudies need to consider to use: (1) longitudinal or mixed-longi-tudinal designs; (2) multidisciplinary research teams; (3) welldefined methodologies in training of test team; (4) rigorousquality control during data collection and data entry; and (5)inclusion of parameters related to health.

Key words: CPLP, growth, maturation, physical fitness, physicalactivity.

RESUMOEstudos sobre crescimento somático, maturação biológica,aptidão física e actividade física nos países de língua oficialportuguesa: uma revisão

O presente estudo tem como objectivos: (1) situar os trabalhos efectua-dos na Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa e (2) apresentaralgumas recomendações para investigações futuras. Dezassete estudossão considerados e extraídas as seguintes conclusões: (1) a quase totali-dade dos estudos apresentam um delineamento transversal; (2) no con-texto da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa, a altura e pesodas crianças Portuguesas e Brasileiras são quase idênticos, enquanto osjovens de Moçambique são mais baixos e mais leves. As crianças deCabo Verde e Moçambique apresentam menos gordura subcutânea doque as crianças Portuguesas e Brasileiras. No teste ‘sit and reach’ osMoçambicanos apresentam os melhores resultados mas o oposto é verda-deiro para o ‘sit ups’. Na corrida/andar de 12 minutos os Portuguesesapresentam melhores resultados do que os Brasileiros; (3) no contextoEuropeu, os rapazes e raparigas Brasileiros e Moçambicanos são ligeira-mente mais baixos do que os Belgas. As crianças e adolescentes deMoçambique são mais leves e têm níveis de gordura subcutânea maisbaixos do que os Belgas. No ‘sit and reach’ os rapazes e raparigasMoçambicanos apresentam melhores resultados do que os seus paresBelgas. Estudos de crescimento futuros devem privilegiar: (1) delinea-mentos longitudinais ou longitudinais mistos; (2) equipas de investiga-ção multidisciplinares; (3) metodologias de treino da equipa de campobem definidas; (4) controlo rigoroso na recolha e entrada dos dados nocomputador; e (5) parâmetros relacionados com a saúde.

Palavras-chave: CPLP, crescimento, maturação, aptidão física eactividade física.

GP Beunen, JA Lefevre, AL Claessens, MA ThomisKatholieke Universiteit LeuvenFaculty of Physical Education and PhysiotherapyDepartment of Sport and Movement SciencesRM PhilippaertsGhent University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences,Department of Movement and Sports Sciences.

Revista 06.06.03 9:41 Página 92

Revista Portuguesa de Ciências do Desporto, 2002, vol. 2, nº 4 [92–111] 93

INTRODUCTIONIn 1989, at the time of the 1st Congress on PhysicalEducation and Sports Sciences of the PortugueseSpeaking Countries, a number of studies and proj-ects on growth, maturation, physical fitness andactivity were presented. These studies were conduct-ed over the past years in Portuguese SpeakingCountries (CPLP). The main purpose of those stud-ies was to construct their own reference values forgrowth, maturation and physical fitness.Simultaneously, other characteristics such as regularphysical activity, physiological parameters and socio-economic status were also considered with the pur-pose of better understanding human variability andprovide more evidence for the associations betweenphysical fitness and health.Although the Portuguese language is not directlyimplicated in these processes, genetic and culturalaspects can be on the basis of some morphologicaland functional similarity. The colonisation by thePortuguese and the departure of African slaves toBrazil justify the existence of common trends.However, distinct socio-economic realities are foundin these countries.With the exception of Portugal, the countries thatintegrate the CPLP are classified by the World Bankas Developing Countries. African countries (Angola,Cabo Verde, Guiné-Bissau, Mozambique and SãoTomé and Príncipe) are considered very poor.Infantile mortality and illiteracy rates and GrossDomestic Product show values that go negativelyaway from the world average. Brazil is better posi-tioned in socio-economic terms but reveals a lot ofdisequilibrium in wealth distribution. The adverseclimatic conditions (flood and drying periods) andthe civil wars experienced in Angola andMozambique also guide to a lack of food withstraight repercussions in growth and maturationprocesses.During the last years attempts to review the studiesmade in CPLP were not carried on. Knowledge aboutstudy designs and main results of the researches willconstitute important pieces in the development ofthe future actions. Methodological changes, inclu-sion of other variables and the beginning of commonprojects are the main implications of this paper. Inthis context, the present review has the followingpurposes: (1) to summarize the findings of the stud-ies made in the CPLP between 1989 and 1999; and(2) to present recommendations to be considered infuture research.

METHODOLOGYThe reviewed studies are included in three largegroups: Portugal, Brazil and African countries. Homecountry, research in growth, maturation, fitness andphysical activity, experimental nature, age-groups(first two decades of life), accessibility to the readerand the period of realization of the studies (till1999) are the selection criteria used. For a betterfacility of exposition, the studies were examined interms of sample, study design, components andmain results.Height, weight, sum of skinfolds (triceps and sub-scapular), sit and reach, sit ups and 12-minuterun/walk were compared among CPLP countries andwith Belgian (27; 30; 18) and Netherlands (16; 17)groups.

STUDIES EXECUTED IN CPLPTables 1-3 present the most important characteris-tics of the studies conducted in CPLP. A total of sev-enteen studies, eight of which took place inPortugal, seven in Brazil1, one in Mozambique andanother in Cabo Verde within the period of 1972and 1999 are considered. From the seventeen stud-ies only eleven were published, five in books and sixas papers.The samples comprised children and youth of bothsexes from 7 to 18 years. Apart from that, and withexception of the preliminary presentation of themixed-longitudinal study in progress in theAutonomous Region of Madeira (9) and the longitu-dinal studies of Nahas et al. (23) and Duarte (8) inBrazil, the totality of the studies is of a cross-sec-tional nature.With regard to anthropometry, body mass, heightand skinfolds are included in about 2/3 of the stud-ies. The bone diameters and muscular circumfer-ences are also measured in the studies of Sobral (31;32), Sobral and Marques (33), Duarte (8), Matsudo(22), Madureira (20), Freitas et al. (10) and Lopes(19). For maturational status, the inspection of thesecondary sex characteristics (pubic hair) and deter-mination of age at menarche were used most often.The study of Freitas et al. (10) combines the retro-spective and status quo methods for age at menar-che with the skeletal maturation assessed from a x-ray to the left hand and wrist.

Growth and development in CPLP

1 The study made by Madureira (20) includes samples fromPortugal and Brazil. For this revision it is considered as aBrazilian study.



Table 1. Studies made in the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries: Portugal

DL Freitas, JA Maia, GP Beunen, AT Marques, JA Lefevre, AL Claessens, MA Thomis, RM Philippaerts

Authors/Country Subjects Design Title, test programs and components Main results

Brito (7) • Females(the sampleis notprecise)

• Ages of 11,13 and 15years.

• Cross-sectional

• Sounding on the physical condition(performance) of the Portuguesefemale school population of 11, 13and 15 years of age.

• Adaptation of AAHPER (2)• Motor

• Muscular strength and endurance(abdominal and upper body)

• Anaerobic power• Speed• Agility

• Presentation of the results inpercentile tables by factor andage, without any analysis anddiscussion of the same.

Nunes et al. (25) • 6078 (nodistinctionbetweensexes)

• Agesbetween 13and 17years.

• Cross-sectional

• Characterisation of the schoolteenager - assessment of thephysical condition

• Initial outline of the Eurofit (1)• Motor

• Cardiorespiratory endurance• Flexibilility• Strength

• Upper body (static and dynamic)• Abdominal• Inferior

• Agility• Speed

• The boys presented better resultsthan girls in all tests and ages,with the exception of flexibility.

Sobral (31; 32) • 1008 (531boys and477 girls)


• Cross-sectional

• Statistic and anthropometric andnormatives physical values of theAutonomous Region of Azores/Growthstate and physical fitness of theschool population of Azores.

• Set of tests selected according tocriteria established by the author.

• Motor• Cardiorespiratory endurance• Strength


• Speed• Somatic

• Weight• Height• Skinfolds• Diameters• Circumferences

• The boys and girls of Azorespresent in the explosive strengthtests of upper body higherperformances than those ofBelgian youth.

• Azorians of both sexes presentsimilar performances to theSpanish in sit ups.

• The Azorians present inferiorvalues in weight and heightrelatively to the Portuguesemainland population.

• In skinfolds and in both sexes, thevalues of Azorians are higher thanthose of English and Italian.

• The girls present in subscapularand triceps skinfolds higher valuesthan the boys.

• In both sexes, the averageamounts of the three skinfolds of




• Head dimensions the Azores sample are higher thanthe registered of the Europeanpopulation used in the discussion.

Sobral andMarques (33)

• 212 (133boys and79 girls)


• Cross-sectional

• Facdex: somatic-motor developmentand sport excellence factors in thePortuguese school population

• Facdex Battery• Motor

• Cardiorespiratory endurance• Flexibility• Strength



• Somatic• Weight • Diameters• Height • Circumferences• Skinfolds • Maturational status

• The Portuguese present betterperformances in the 12-minuterun in comparison to the Americanand French.

• The values presented by thePortuguese in the 50 metres run,standing long jump and handgriptests are superior than othersexecuted in Portugal.

• Lifestyle and habitual physicalactivity

• Coordination• Postural assessment• Health and body concept• Motivation for the practice of sports

Main results

Sá (29) • 218 (106boys and112 girls)


• Cross-sectional

• Physical fitness and school sports• Set of tests developed by Sobral (31;

32).• Motor

• Cardiorespiratory endurance• Strength

• Upper body (static and dynamic)• Abdominal• Inferior• Speed

• Somatic• Weight• Height

Nascimento (24) • 1117 (540boys and577 girls)


• Cross-sectional

• Physical fitness of the schoolpopulation of the District of Aveiro• Facdex battery

• Motor• Cardiorespiratory endurance• Flexibility• Strength

• Upper body (static and dynamic)

• The values presented by the youthof Azores, of the present study, aresuperior to the results presentedby Sobral (31; 32) and Sobral andMarques (33).

• The improvement of results isjustified from the selectivity of thesample.

• Inferior values in the sit and reach,50-metre run, standing long jumpand 12-minute run tests whencompared to the foreign studiesused in discussion.

• Superior values in the shuttle run(10x5 metres), handgrip and situps tests.




• Abdominal• Inferior


Freitas et al.(11)



• Cross-sectional

• Physical fitness of the schoolpopulation of the Autonomous Regionof Madeira

• Facdex battery• Motor




Freitas et al.(10)



• Mixed-longitudinal

• Madeira Growth Study• Eurofit battery/AAHPERD (3)• Motor


• Upper body (static)• Abdominal• Inferior

• Agility• Speed (of the limbs)• Balance

• Somatic• Weight • Circumferences• Height• Skinfolds• Diameters• Maturational status

• Physical activity• Socio-economic

• General tendency for inferiorresults compared to the remainingreference populations in the sitand reach and standing long jumptests.

• Similar values to the remainingpopulations in the sit ups andhandgrip tests.

• The results were not published.



Table 2. Studies made in the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries: Brazil


Authors/Country Subjects Design Title, test programs andcomponents

Main results

Nahas et al. (23) • 84 (40boys and44 girls)

• Agesbetween7 and 10years.

• Longitudinal • Growth and health-relatedfitness in children from 7 to 10years old – a longitudinalstudy.

• Adaptation of AAHPERD (3)• Motor


• Upper body• Abdominal

• Somatic• Weight• Height• Sitting height• Skinfolds

• Growth data are inside of normalpatterns when compared withinternational references. In Brazilcontext, data for boys and girls fromFlorianopolis are superior than otherRegions.

• Boys present in somatic and motorvariables better results than girls. Forsit and reach the opposite is found.

Duarte (8) • 44 (26boys and18 girls)


• Longitudinal • Longitudinal study of pubertalpeak height velocity andrelated morphological andfunctional components inBrazilian children.

• Set of tests selected accordingto criteria established by theauthor.

• Motor• Strength

• Upper body• Inferior

• Speed• Agility

• Somatic• Weight• Height• Skinfolds• Diameters• Circumferences• Maturational status

• The mean age of Peak Height Velocity(PHV) in Ilhabela girls and boys was11.55±1.11 and 13.99 years,respectively). The magnitude of PHVwas 9.15 cm/year for girls and 9.72cm/year for boys.

• The mean age of menarche for Ilhabelagirls was 12.67 years.

• A growth spurt was observed in thefemale group in body weight, sum of 7skinfolds, handgrip and shuttle runperformance. Growth spurts were alsoobserved in weight, vertical jump,standing broad jump, hand gripstrength, and 50m run in Ilhabela boys.

• A peak velocity coincident with orclose to PHV was observed in Ilhabelagirls for sum of 7 skinfolds, handgrip,and shuttle run, while for boys a peakvelocity was demo nstrated for bodyweight, vertical jump, standing broadjump, handgrip, and 50m run.

• The developmental curves of girls andboys from Ilhabela when analyzedrelative to years before and after PHVshowed a general superiority of boyscompared to girls in all variables.




Matsudo (22) • 5200• Ages

between7 and 18years.

• Cross-sectional

• Physical fitness in developingcountries.


• Motor• Cardiorespiratory endurance• Strength

• Inferior• Speed• Agility

• Somatic• Weight• Height• Skinfolds• Diameters• Circumferences• Maturation

• Socio-economic

• For the same socio-economic statusdifferences in physical fitnesscharacteristics were not seen.

• Poor social conditions seems to have astrong impact in maturational (height)and functional growth curves.

• The disadvantages presented inmetabolic and neuromotors profilesdisappear when the absolute valueswere corrected by weight and height.

• The profile for maturation curves wasvery identical in different Regionsinside of the same country and incountries with the same or distinctlysocio-economic conditions.

• Undernourished children seem topresent a later maturation andunderstand an effort in a moreintensive way than the betternourished children.

Guedes (14) • 4289(2186boys and2103girls)


• Cross-sectional

• Growth, body composition andmotor performance in childrenand teenagers of theMunicipality of Londrina.



• Upper body (static anddynamic)

• Abdominal• Inferior

• Speed• Somatic

• Weight • Skinfolds• Height

• The children and youth of the Municipalityof Londrina present lower values in heightand weight relative to the remainingsamples. An identical situation isobserved in the moto r tests, mainly forthe girls.

• The profile presented by somatic andmotor variables express a similarconfiguration to the remaining studies.

• Only 15% of the population of theMunicipality of Londrina managed toobtain the minimum health inaccordance to criterion-referencedanalysis.

• About 13 - 14% of the teenagers of thisstudy present very high adipositylevels.

Madureira (20) • 654Brazilian(375boys and279 girls)

• 356Portuguese (209

• Cross-sectional

• Anthropometrical,maturational, physical fitnessand lifestyle and habitualphysical activity study onBrazilian and Portuguesestudents ages between 7 and16 of both sexes.

• Set of tests selected according

• The menarche age was similar in bothgroups but lower than in othercountries.

• In males, no significant statisticdifferences occurred in pubic hair andsecondary sex characteristics.

• The body mass (weight) and the levelsof subcutaneous adiposity are similar




boys and147 girls)


to criteria established by theauthor.


• Upper body (static)• Abdominal• Inferior

• Agility• Somatic

• Weight • Diameters• Height • Circumferences• Skinfolds • Maturational status

• Lifestyle and habitual physicalactivity

between the two groups, however suchdoes not happen with height, as thePortuguese are taller.

• In motor tests the results are similar tothe previous, being in the shuttle runand 12-minute run.

• The lifestyle of both samples areidentical up to the age of 13. As fromthis point, the participation ofPortuguese girls in sports activities issubstantially reduced and thesedentary increases.

Gaya et al. (13) • 675 (408boys and267 girls)

• Agesbetween12 and17 years.

• Cross-sectional

• The young Brazilian athletes –report of the field study of theyoungster games.


• Motor• Strength

• Upper body (static)• Abdominal

• Flexibility• Coordination

• Somatic• Weight • Sitting height• Height • Skinfolds

• Motivation for sports andlifestyle

• Presentation of the results by modalityand sex.

Lopes (19) • 1757Brazilian(858boys and899 girls)


• Cross-sectional

• Anthropometry, bodycomposition and lifestyle ofchildren from distinct ethnic-cultural background in theState of Santa Catarina, Brazil.

• Somatic• Weight • Diameters• Height • Circumferences• Skinfolds

• Lifestyle and physical activity• Socio-economic• Ethnic-cultural background

• The Italian and German ethnic-culturalgroups (7 and 10 years) showed highervalues for anthropometric variables(with the exception of skinfolds) thanthe Portuguese one.

• The Portuguese group had lower valueson lean body mass than the Germanand Italian ethnic-cultural groups.

• High correlations were found whenlifestyle variables were associated withanthropometric and body composition.



Table 3. Studies made in the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries: Brazil and Cabo Verde Republic.


Authors/Country Subjects Design Title, test programs and components Main results

Prista et al (28)(Mozambique)



• Cross-sectional

• Relationship between physicalactivity, socio-economic, and physicalfitness of 8-15-year-old youth fromMozambique.

• AAHPERD (3); Eurofit (1)• Motor


• Upper body (static)• Abdominal

• Agility• Somatic

• Weight• Height• Skinfolds• Maturational status

• Physical activity• Socio-economic• Physiological parameters

• In the distance run tests andflexibility the Mozambiquepopulation presents higherresults than the remainingstudies.

• At the level of upper body andabdominal strength, the resultspresented by the population fromMozambique are inferior to thoseof developed countries.

• At anthropometric level, theMozambique population presentsitself in stature lower values thanthe international standards,reflecting a probable maturationdelay.

• The profile of the habitual physicalactivity seems to be positivelyinfluenced by a specific socio-cultural reality and ischaracterised by a volume andfrequency slightly superior to thatof populations of industrializedcountries. The activities identifiedare of a spontaneous type and areconnected to survival and leisuregames.

Oliveira (26)(Cabo VerdeRepublic)



• Cross-sectional

• Growth and physical fitness of CaboVerde children aged from 10 to 12.

• AAHPERD (3)• Motor


• Upper body (dynamic)• Abdominal

• Somatic• Weight• Height• Skinfolds• Maturational status

• Orography• Socio-economic

• The somatic growth andmaturational development do notseem to influence the motorcontribution.

• The socio-economical factorinfluences in a diversified mannerthe children from Cabo Verde inthe somatic and motor domains.

• The orographic conditions seem tobe in a direct relation with somesomatic and motorcharacteristics.

• The children of Cabo Verdepresent in the motor andanthropometrical variables valuesinferior to those of the remainingcountries of the discussion.



The studies of Sobral (31; 32), Sobral and Marques(33), Duarte (8), Matsudo (22), Guedes (14), Pristaet al. (28), Oliveira (26), Madureira (20) and Gayaet al. (13) relate the maturational status to morphol-ogy. For the calculation of the fat mass and fat-freemass, the relative amount of fat in the body (% fat) -sum of skinfolds, body mass index (BMI) and soma-totype are the indicators used.In general, EUROFIT (1988), and AAHPERD (3; 4)test batteries have been used in several growth stud-ies. In Portugal, the FACDEX battery (33) was devel-oped. The studies of Sobral (31; 32), Duarte (8),Matsudo (22), Guedes (14), Sá (29), Madureira (20)and Gaya et al. (13), present a set of tests selectedaccording to criteria established by the authors.The abdominal strength is the health-related fit-ness component included in almost all the studies.Few exceptions can be observed in studies made inBrazil by Duarte (8), Matsudo (22) and Lopes (19).Cardio-respiratory endurance was evaluated in thir-teen studies and flexibility in eleven. Body compo-sition is also considered in the studies of Sobral(31; 36), Nahas et al. (23), Sobral and Marques(33), Duarte (8), Matsudo (22), Guedes (14),Prista et al. (28), Oliveira (26), Freitas et al. (10),Madureira (20) and Gaya et al. (13). For perform-ance-related fitness, upper body strength (staticand/or dynamic) was evaluated in nearly all thestudies. Also explosive strength and velocity/agili-ty, were investigated in twelve and thirteen studies,respectively. Balance is only evaluated in the studyof Freitas et al. (10) and coordination, in the stud-ies of Sobral and Marques (33), Freitas et al. (10)and Gaya et al. (13).

For somatic and fitness characteristics reference val-ues are constructed and age and sex specific meansand standard deviation are provided for each of thesomatic dimensions and tests. Guedes (14) also con-siders the fitness levels with regard to criteria pro-posed in the North American battery AAHPERDPhysical Best (4) for the sit and reach, sit ups and 9-and 12- minute run/walk tests.The evaluation of the lifestyle and physical activity isobject of study in Sobral and Marques (33),Madureira (20), Freitas et al. (10), Gaya et al. (13),Prista et al. (28) and Lopes (19). In all these studiesphysical activity was assessed by means of self-reported questionnaires. In the studies of Madureira(20), Gaya et al. (13) and Lopes (19) the question-naire used was the one developed by Sobral andMarques (33) to evaluate the lifestyle of childrenand youth in the Region of Oporto during childhoodand adolescence (EVIA). Prista et al. (28) developeda ‘weekly description’ model adopted forMozambique population and lifestyle whereasFreitas et al. (10) used the Baecke questionnaire (5).When comparing some somatic characteristics inCPLP studies, the average height values of Brazilian(14) and Portuguese (10) samples are very similar(Fig. 1). For boys from 8 to 11 years of age theBrazilians are slightly taller than those from Portugalbut this situation changes from 11 years onwardswhen the Portuguese show higher averages. For girls,a similar trend is observed but the Portuguese sam-ple only surpasses the Brazilian at the age of 16 and17. With regard to Mozambique, boys are clearlysmaller in comparison to Portuguese and Braziliansamples. For girls, the differences in height are small.


Figure 1 Height of Brazilian ( ), Portuguese ( ) and Mozambique ( ) boys and girls. Data are from Guedes (14), Freitas et al. (10) and Prista et al. (28), respectively.


Figure 3 Sum of skinfolds (triceps and subscapular) of Brazilian ( ), Cabo Verde ( ), Portuguese ( ) and Mozambique ( ) boys and girls. Data are fromGuedes (14), Oliveira (26), Freitas et al. (10) and Prista et al. (28), respectively.


For body mass, similar differences as to height werefound in both sexes (Fig. 2). Portuguese andBrazilian boys present nearly coincident values from8 to 11 but from this age onwards the Portuguesesample is greater in terms of weight than theBrazilian. Brazilian girls show higher body massaverages from 8 to 12 but the values are more orless the same from the ages of 13 through to 15.

Once more, the Portuguese sample presents higherbody mass averages at 16 and 17. WhenMozambique, Brazilian and Portuguese samples arecompared the same tendency as to height can beobserved: Mozambique boys and girls have lowerbody mass than Brazilian and Portuguese youngstersbut the differences in girls are smaller than in boys.


Figure 2 Weight of Brazilian ( ), Portuguese ( ) and Mozambique ( ) boys and girls. Data are from Guedes (14), Freitas et al. (10) and Prista et al. (28), respectively.

The average levels of subcutaneous fat obtained bythe sum of triceps and subscapular skinfolds showthat Portuguese and Brazilian children and youth, ofboth sexes, present higher adiposity values thanCabo Verde (26) and Mozambique (28) samples (Fig.3). Between Portuguese and Brazilian boys the firstones present higher subcutaneous fat levels at all agegroups but the results are very close at the age of 10,11 and 17. In contrast, the Brazilian girls have higher

adiposity than Portuguese girls at all age groups withexception of 11 years of age where the opposite wasfound. The Cabo Verde boys have higher subcuta-neous fat than those of Mozambique at the age of 10,11 and 12. For girls, no general trend can be seenbetween the two samples with Cabo Verde girlsshowing higher adiposity than those of Mozambiqueat 10 and 11 and lower at the age of 12.



The performance on sit and reach test of theMozambique and Cabo Verde samples of both sexesis higher than those of Portuguese and Brazilian

children and youth (Fig. 4). The best results areobtained by Mozambique boys and girls, followed byCabo Verde, Brazilian and Portuguese samples.


Figure 4 Performance on sit and reach in Brazilian ( ), Cabo Verde ( ), Portuguese ( ) and Mozambique ( ) boys and girls. Data are from Guedes (14),Oliveira (26), Freitas et al. (11) and Prista et al. (28), respectively.

Figure 5 Performance on sit ups in Brazilian ( ), Portuguese ( ) and Mozambique ( ) boys and girls. Data are from Guedes (14), Freitas et al. (11) andPrista et al. (28), respectively.

For sit ups Portuguese and Brazilian children andyouth of both sexes present higher performancesthan those of Mozambique as was observed forstature and body mass (Fig. 5). The growth curvesfor trunk strength of boys and girls from Brazil and

Portugal show approximately the same pattern from11 to 15 years old, however, the Brazilian sampleperforms slightly better than the Portuguese one.For girls at the age of 12 and 13 the opposite can befound with better results in the Portuguese sample.



Finally, the Portuguese boys and girls perform betterthan the Brazilian sample at all age groups on 12-minute run/walk test (Fig. 6). An exception can be

observed for boys at the age of 11, 12 and 13 wherethe Brazilian sample showed higher performancescompared to the Portuguese.


Figure 6 Performance on 12-minute run/walk in Brazilian ( ) and Portuguese ( ) boys and girls. Data are from Madureira (20) and Freitas et al. (11), respectively.

DISCUSSIONThe non-existence of the normal revision process insome publications can lead to incorrect suppositionsand some weakness in the discussion of the results.Also, the non-access to raw data did not allow us todo a more powerful statistic analyses. In presentreview, the studies made in the CPLP were com-pared to multidisciplinary studies of growth and fit-ness in Belgian (27; 30) and Netherlands (16; 17).Out of the 17 CPLP studies only four, i.e. Brito (7),Nunes et al. (25), Nascimento (24) and Freitas et al.(11), focus uniquely on physical fitness, this is, aunique agglomerate of motor components. Theremaining 13 studies are multidisciplinary, encom-passing motor, somatic and physical activity charac-teristics as well as physiological, coordination, pos-tural and socio-economic parameters.The studies of Simons et al. (30) and Kemper (16;17) still include more characteristics. In the studyon Flemish girls apart from the somatic, motor andsocial dimensions, the pulmonary function and car-dio-respiratory parameters are also studied. In theDutch study (16) four groups of measurements canbe identified: (a) biological measurements, anthro-

pometry, menarche, skeletal age, physiological char-acteristics and motor performance tests-MOPERFitness Test; (b) psycho-social methods (personality,school attitude and sociometric status); (c) eatingand smoking habits; and (d) physical activity. In thefollow-up of the Amsterdam Growth Study (17) newitems were included, namely, bone mineral densityand dietary calcium intake, analyses of blood, urineand saliva, now comprising five domains: (a) biolog-ical measurements of body size, build, and composi-tion; (b) motor performance and physiological meas-urement; (c) psychological measurements and per-sonality; (d) lifestyle measurements concerningdietary habits, physical activity, psycho-social behav-iour, and stress; and (e) health measurements, con-cerning both physical and mental aspects.This demonstrates that the CPLP studies were lessmultidisciplinary, that the focus was less on health-related fitness items and that there is a need to fol-low the literature in the field closely so that therecent techniques can be incorporated.In each country there is a concern with constructingits own standards in growth, maturation and physi-cal fitness. In the CPLP the results of each



variable/test are presented by age and sex throughthe mean and standard deviation, whereas the stud-ies of Ostyn et al. (27), Kemper (16; 17) and Simonset al. (30) use percentile scales.Out of the seventeen studies conducted in the CPLPfourteen have a cross-sectional design and only threea longitudinal or mixed-longitudinal designs. Takinginto account that individual growth characteristicscan only be investigated by means of longitudinaland mixed-longitudinal designs it becomes necessaryto conduct longitudinal and mixed-longitudinalstudies in the CPLP. Such studies would permit tostudy growth patterns and tracking as is done in thestudies of Beunen et al. (6) and Kemper (17) forsomatic and motor characteristics.In the CPLP only one study is conducted to investi-gate the adolescent growth spurt in the differentsomatic and performance characteristics. This weak-ness seems to be associated with financial and tech-nical aspects. Longitudinal studies require long-termfinancial obligations (due to their high cost) and thenecessity of a permanent attendance of the testteam. Furthermore, there is also the risk of dropouts- essential condition for the success of this type ofinvestigation.With regard to data input and quality control, thestudies of Ostyn et al. (27) and Simons et al. (30)constitute good models. In epidemiological studies,special attention should be given to the training ofthe test team and errors that may occur in the datacollecting (misreading an instrument, in transcribingdata into forms, in coding answers to questions, orin punching data to tape or disk). In an attempt toevaluate these errors and, if possible to limit them,Ostyn et al. (27) describe the training of test teamsunder the supervision of the experienced instructors.In the study of Simons et al. (30) a team was trainedduring a 45 day period, in which each test leaderwas involved in a pilot study during which 450 indi-viduals of both sexes and different age groups weremeasured and tested.An important aspect of the measurement/evaluationof the anthropometric and motor variables consistsin the determination of the errors of measurementand the presentation of the reliability of the testsand measurements. Both Ostyn et al. (27) andSimons et al. (30) conducted test-retest reliability

studies and reliability studies before the main proj-ect started. Subsequently they developed in-fieldmethods to evaluate the in field reliability and meas-urement error.Also during data entry quality control was carriedout. All individual data were entered twice into acomputer file and under program control the twodata sets were compared, errors deleted and verifiedwith the original data sheets. The following step ledto the elimination of the outliers whenever the valueregistered was very different from the value estimat-ed. In the study of Simons et al. (30), whenever thisdifference was superior to 2.58 times the standarderror of measurement the outlier was verified withthe original data sheet. If the outlier was correct asdocumented by other characteristics it was accepted,if no clear evidence was presented it was deleted.In studies conducted in the CPLP, references to thequality of the evaluation results and the method-ological rigour of the investigation are presented byDuarte (8), Guedes (14), Prista et al. (28), Oliveira(26), Madureira (20), Nascimento (24) and Freitaset al. (10; 11).The reliability and reproducibility of anthropometricand physical fitness variables were evaluated byDuarte (8) in a group of 5 girls and 7 boys using atwo day test-retest procedure. The reliability of thedata was very high, with correlation (r) values rang-ing from 0.85 to 1.0. The reproducibility evaluatedby the student t-test showed no significant meandifferences between days for any of the variables,suggesting very good reproducibility.In a pilot study Guedes (14) investigated the repro-ducibility of motor and somatic measurements. Forbody dimensions the correlation varied between 0.97and 0.99 and technical error of measurement waslow indicating a good agreement between the twoevaluations. For motor tests, correlation coefficientsvary between 0.76 and 0.93 indicating sufficienttest-retest reliability. Lowest reliability was observedin children aged less than 12 years in the 9/12-minute run/walk and standing long jump. In thisstudy, one of the purposes was also to determine theoverall reproducibility level of the set of motor tests.Canonical correlation coefficients for the two sets oftests varied between 0.48 and 0.99 for the six sub-groups considered and values of total redundancy




(Rd) between 0.87 and 0.88. Since the estimate oftotal redundancy reflects the concordance level inthe variation between the two sets of tests, about 87to 88% of the variation found in the motor testresults was common to both sets of tests.A similar work was conducted in the AutonomousRegion of Madeira by Freitas et al. (11; 9). In firstplace, we intended to know the reliability of thetests (absolute and relative reliability), of the differ-ent items of the FACDEX battery (33), of the stu-dents who participated in the ‘Physical Fitness of theSchool Population of Autonomous Region ofMadeira’. The second step was the evaluation of theglobal reliability of the battery. Regarding the firstaspect, the execution of a retest to a sub-sample of134 students allowed the extraction of intraclasscorrelation coefficients (relative reliability) and thestandard error of measurement (absolute reliability),both by age group. Values of R between 0.78 and0.99, show, clearly, the high test-retest reliability.Also the standard error of measurement (SEM) waslow for motor tests. Noteworthy is that, as observedby Guedes (14), the highest standard error of meas-urement occurred in the 12-minute run/walk and instanding long jump. However, ‘Mixed Anova’ did notshow any significant pattern of learning or testingeffect over age groups. With respect to the overallreliability of the FACDEX battery, the results of thecanonical correlation analysis indicate redundancylevels (Rd1) between 0.66 and 0.80, in the first eval-uation, and Rd2 between 0.71 and 0.82 in the sec-ond, which shows that the battery as a whole is reli-able and stable across groups.Also in this context, Prista et al. (28) validated aquestionnaire to estimate the habitual physical activ-ity of Mozambique children and youth. A group ofchildren was observed during 24 hours by 12observers. The activities observed led to the con-struction of a set of questions to be included intotwo types of questionnaires: the ‘24 hour descrip-tion’ and the ‘weekly description’ models.The validity of the two models was determined by apilot study. A group of 16 students was observed fora period of 24 hours. Each individual was followedby two distinct observers who independently regis-tered the activities carried on. The following day,each student was interrogated by an interviewer

with the ‘24 hour description model’ and, fifteendays later, the same individuals were interviewed bythe ‘weekly description model’. The comparison ofthe activity values observed and registered in inter-view revealed intraclass correlation coefficientbetween 0.10 and 0.80 for the ‘24 hour descriptionmodel’, which indicates that the individuals mani-fested little ability in the self-report of the timeinvolved in daily physical activity. For the ‘weeklydescription model’ the observation and interviewresults were compared by ANOVA (one way) basedon the Activity Coefficient manifested in the ques-tionnaire by two distinct groups: active (EM equal orsuperior to P50) and non-active (EM inferior toP50). The active group shows higher values than thenon-active, although without a statistical signifi-cance. The analysis of the results, at an individuallevel, reveals that 83% of the individuals were cor-rectly classified into the active group indicating thatthe self-reported weekly description is associatedwith the more objective observation. Subsequentlythe reliability of the weekly self-reported question-naire was studied using a test-retest design.Reliability coefficients for the different items variedbetween 0.30 and 0.80 with an average value ofR=0.71).In the studies of Oliveira (26), Madureira (20) andNascimento (24), the analysis of the data was preced-ed by a study of the normality of the distributions ofthe characteristics under investigation and the even-tual presence of outliers was verified. Madureira (20)and Nascimento (24) present reliability values,obtained by the test-retest procedure an intraclasscorrelation coefficient, equal or superior to 0.72[R>0.95 – Madureira (20); 0.72<R<0.99 –Nascimento (24)]. There are no references to thepreparation of the test team or execution of pilotstudies.It should be mentioned that in the studies made inthe CPLP the interrelation between growth, matura-tion, physical activity and performance were onlypartly investigated. Matsudo (22) studied the rela-tionship between growth, maturation, physical fit-ness and socio-economic status. Duarte (8) analysedthe relationship between growth, maturation andphysical fitness, while Lopes (19) investigated theconnection between growth and physical activity.




Prista et al. (28) related the concepts of growth,maturation, physical fitness and physical activity,and Oliveira (26) studied the relationship betweengrowth, maturation, physical fitness and socio-eco-nomic status.In an attempt to situate the CPLP studies in anothercontext we plotted some somatic characteristics andmotor tests against Belgian data. For height, boysand girls from Brazil and Mozambique are slightlyshorter than Belgians (Fig. 7). This difference ismore notable for Mozambique sample of both sexeswhile Brazilian girls are closer to the height averagespresented by Flemish girls at 8, 9, 10 and 11 yearsold. Similar analysis was made by Guedes (14) and

Prista et al. (28) when comparing the Brazilian andMozambique data with North-American referencevalues (15). For Brazilian boys differences of about 2to 5 centimetres less than North Americans can beobserved from 10 years onwards whereas, in girls,this difference is about 2 centimetres. The averageheight of boys from Mozambique comes close to theP5 of the NCHS norms and for girls within the P5and P50 channel. In both studies these differencesare explained through the interacting effectsbetween environmental conditions and geneticspotential, i.e. the environmental conditions areinsufficient to obtain optimal growth as determinedby genetic potential.


Figure 7 Height of Brazilian ( ), Belgian ( ) and Mozambique ( ) boys and girls. Data are from Guedes (14), Lefevre et al. (18) and Prista et al. (28), respectively.

For body mass, children and youngsters fromMozambique are lighter than Belgians at all agegroups and in both sexes (Fig. 8). Similar weightsare presented by Portuguese girls from 8 to 13 yearsold but the difference between the two samples isstrongly marked from 14 to 17 years where thePortuguese sample showed lower body mass aver-ages. For boys, data are nearly identical from 8 to 11years and from 16 to 17 years old. From 12 to 15years the Portuguese boys are heavier than theBelgians. The lighter weight expressed byMozambique sample, in comparison to thePortuguese and Belgian samples may be explained

by a lower stature. Prista et al. (28), although inanother context, compared the average values of hissample with the averages proposed by Frisancho(1990) for relative weight of North American blackpeople. The values came close to the P50. Withregard to the Portuguese sample the intermediatebody mass levels and lower stature relative to theBelgian boys and girls can be associated to the fataccumulation.



The average levels of subcutaneous fat (sum of tri-ceps and subscapular skinfolds) of Portuguese,Belgian and Mozambique samples are presented inFig. 9. Once again, the Mozambique sample of bothsexes has lower skinfold values than Belgian andPortuguese boys and girls. For Portuguese boys,slightly higher subcutaneous fat levels are presentedrelatively to the Flemish boys. For girls, the skinfoldvalues are very close to each other and no consistent

pattern of differences can be found between the twosamples. These data strengthen the previous sugges-tion that the intermediate weight levels and lowerstature presented by Portuguese sample could beassociated to the fat accumulation. For children andyouth from Mozambique the lower body mass canbe explained not only by a shorter stature but alsoby lower subcutaneous fat levels.


Figure 8 Weight of Portuguese ( ), Belgian ( ) and Mozambique ( ) boys and girls. Data are from Freitas et al. (10), Lefevre et al. (18) and Prista et al. (28),respectively.

Figure 9 Sum of skinfolds (triceps and subscapular) of Portuguese ( ), Belgian ( ) and Mozambique ( ) boys and girls. Data are from Freitas et al. (10),Lefevre et al. (18) and Prista et al. (28), respectively.



For motor dimensions, and with regard to the sitand reach test, Mozambique boys and girls obtainbetter results than Belgians at all age levels (Fig.10). For Brazilian boys the results are very close tothe Belgian sample but girls present lower perform-ances at all age groups. Similar findings were

observed by Prista et al. (28) and Guedes (14) whenMozambique and Brazil data were plotted againstNorth-American norms (4). The clear advantage ofMozambique sample was justified by these authorsthrough a different type of physical activity carriedout by children and youth from Mozambique.


Figure 10 Performance on sit and reach in Brazilian ( ), Belgian ( ) and Mozambique ( ) boys and girls. Data are from Guedes (14), Lefevre et al. (18) andPrista et al. (28), respectively.

CONCLUSIONSThe studies made in the CPLP reflect the concern ofeach country/territory in characterising and describ-ing their population/group reporting specific refer-ence data for growth, maturation, physical fitnessand physical activity.Among the different countries/territories the high-est number of studies reviewed is conducted inPortugal and Brazil. On the seventeen studies twelveincluded somatic and fitness characteristics. Formotor fitness, the measurement of the abdominaland explosive strength is common in nearly all thestudies. The physical activity is object of study in theinvestigations made by Sobral and Marques (33),Madureira (20), Freitas et al. (10), Gaya et al. (13),Prista et al. (28) and Lopes (19). In this domain, allstudies used self-reported questionnaire.Almost all the studies conducted in the CPLP pres-ent a cross-sectional design. Few exceptions are thepreliminary presentation of the mixed-longitudinal

study in progress in the Autonomous Region ofMadeira – Portugal (10) and the longitudinal studiesmade by Nahas et al. (23) and Duarte (8) in Brazil.The studies of Duarte (8), Guedes (14), Prista et al.(28) and Freitas et al. (10; 9) present a similarmethodology to those developed in Belgium byOstyn et al. (27) and Simons et al. (30). However,the non-existence of strategies to include proceduresto control data quality during data collection anddata entry reflects some of the methodological weak-nesses in these studies.The multidisciplinary factor of the CPLP studies isoperationalised by the inclusion of physical fitnessdimensions, somatic characteristics, lifestyle andphysical activity, coordination, posture, socio-eco-nomic status, and some physiological parameters.The associations between the dimensions are onlypartially studied (8; 22; 28; 19; 26).In CPLP context, data from Portugal (10) and Brazil(14) present nearly identical average height and



body mass values, those from Mozambique (28) areshorter and lighter. Portuguese and Brazilian sam-ples present higher subcutaneous fat levels (sum oftriceps and subscapular skinfolds) than Cabo Verde(26) and Mozambique. For motor dimensions, boysand girls from Mozambique perform better thanBrazilian, Cabo Verde and Portuguese samples on sitand reach. The opposite holds true for sit ups wherechildren and youth from Brazil and Portugal (11)show better results than Mozambique sample. On12-minute run/walk, Portuguese sample performsbetter than Brazilian one.In European context, boys and girls from Brazil (14)and Mozambique (28) are slightly shorter thanBelgians (18). Similar body mass can be observed inPortuguese and Belgian samples. Children and youthfrom Mozambique are lighter and have lower subcuta-neous fat levels (sum of triceps and subscapular skin-folds) than Portuguese and Belgians. For Portugueseboys, slightly higher subcutaneous fat levels are pre-sented relatively to the Flemish boys whereas, ingirls, skinfolds values are very close to each other. Forsit and reach test, Mozambique boys and girls per-form better than Belgians. For Brazilian boys theresults are very close to the Belgian sample but girlspresent lower performances at all age groups.Consequently future projects in the area of growth,maturation, fitness and physical activity should con-sider: (1) longitudinal or mixed-longitudinal design;(2) multidisciplinary test teams; (3) well definedmethodologies in training of test team - courses ofanthropometric and evaluation of physical tests;identification and familiarisation with the evaluationinstruments - codes, control and verification; prac-tice; pilot study; (4) rigorous quality control duringdata collection and data entry; and (5) inclusion ofparameters related to health.

ADDRESSDuarte Luís de FreitasUniversidade da MadeiraCampus Universitário da Penteada – SecçãoAutónoma de Educação Física e Desporto9000.390 [email protected]




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* Unpublished data



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