The Youth Fitness International Test (YFIT) battery for monitoring and surveillance among children and adolescents: A modified Delphi consensus project with 169 experts from 50 countries and territories

Ortega, FB and Zhang, K and Cadenas-Sanchez, C and Tremblay, MS and Jurak, G and Tomkinson, GR and Ruiz, JR and Keller, K and Nyström, CD and Sacheck, JM and Pate, R and Weston, KL and Kidokoro, T and Poon, ET and Wachira, L-JM and Ssenyonga, R and Gomes, TNQF and Cristi-Montero, C and Fraser, BJ and Niessner, C and Onywera, VO and Liu, Y and Liang, L-L and Prince, SA and Lubans, DR and Lang, JJ and Oyeyemi, AL and Marques, A and Gribbon, A and Gaya, AR and García-Hermoso, A and Sääkslahti, A and Emeljanovas, A and Faigenbaum, A and Nakabazzi, B and Leskošek, B and Popovic, B and O'Keeffe, B and Timmons, BW and Mieziene, B and Fraser, B and Brand, C and Anza-Ramirez, C and Alvarez-Bueno, C and Agostinis-Sobrinho, CA and Hillman, CH and Niessner, C and Drenowatz, C and Magnussen, CG and Cadenas-Sanchez, C and Berglind, D and da Silva, DRP and Colella, D and Lubans, D and Matelot, D and Tladi, DM and Silva, DAS and Moliner-Urdiales, D and Dumuid, D and Blain, D and Jáuregui-Ulloa, E and Pintos-Toledo, E and Poon, ET and Lee, E-Y and Riso, E-M and Mäestu, E and Bardid, F and Cañete, F and Rodríguez-Rodríguez, F and De Roia, G and Tabacchi, G and Stratton, G and Sandercock, G and Georgiev, G and Vicente-Rodríguez, G and Ferrari, G and Rosa, G and Welk, G and Jurak, G and Starc, G and Labayen, I and Cigarroa, I and Esteban-Cornejo, I and Emeterio, ICS and Milanović, I and Clarke, J and Dobosz, J and Mäestu, J and Brazo-Sayavera, J and Sacheck, JM and Servais, J and Secchi, JD and Vanhelst, J and Ramírez, JV and Magalhães, J and Soto-Sánchez, J and Jaunig, J and Reilly, JJ and Smith, J and Mota, J and Castro-Piñero, J and López-Gil, JF and Githang'a, JW and Mello, JB and Janz, K and Weston, KL and Laurson, K and Till, K and Dlamini, K and Tambalis, KD and Basterfield, L and Joensuu, L and Béghin, L and Santos, LD and Mugisha, L and Zou, L and Taylor, JRLY and Štefan, L and Léger, L and Wachira, L-J and Sardinha, LB and Rubin, L and Thuany, M and Cuenca-García, M and Paw, MCA and Sanchez-Lopez, M and Pihu, M and Noriega, MJ and Medrano-Echeverría, M and Beltran-Valls, MR and Löf, M and Misigoj-Durakovic, M and Tremblay, MS and Gerber, M and Sorić, M and Giuriato, M and Vandoni, M and Lenoir, M and Santander, MD and Peralta, M and Huhtiniemi, M and Said, MA and Kaj, M and Burn, N and Ridgers, ND and Lovecchio, N and Aguilar-Farias, N and Wedderkopp, N and Veiga, OL and Saint-Maurice, P and Katzmarzyk, P and Henriksson, P and Colley, R and Ocansey, RT-A and Kliegl, R and Ramírez-Vélez, R and Ssenyonga, R and Naidoo, R and Pate, RR and McGrath, R and Kuu, S and Salaj, S and Gontarev, S and Morrison, SA and Nqweniso, S and Chen, S and Kagunda, S and Prince, SA and Wong, SH and Popovic, SR and Fairclough, SJ and Andrade, S and Kriemler, S and Csányi, T and Manyanga, T and Mwase-Vuma, TW and Kidokoro, T and Gomes, TNQF and Gisladottir, T and Takken, T and Jaakkola, T and Lakka, T and Olds, T and Tammelin, T and Granacher, U and Carson, V and Martínez-Vizcaíno, V and Onywera, V and Pellino, VC and Huang, WY and Yin, X and Liu, Y and Song, Y and Sun, Y and Liu, Y (2025) The Youth Fitness International Test (YFIT) battery for monitoring and surveillance among children and adolescents: A modified Delphi consensus project with 169 experts from 50 countries and territories. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 14. pp. 1-16. ISSN 2095-2546 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2024.101012

Abstract

Background: Physical fitness in childhood and adolescence is associated with a variety of health outcomes and is a powerful marker of current and future health. However, inconsistencies in tests and protocols limit international monitoring and surveillance. The objective of the study was to seek international consensus on a proposed, evidence-informed, Youth Fitness International Test (YFIT) battery and protocols for health monitoring and surveillance in children and adolescents aged 6–18 years. Methods: We conducted an international modified Delphi study to evaluate the level of agreement with a proposed, evidence-based, YFIT of core health-related fitness tests and protocols to be used worldwide in 6- to 18-year-olds. This proposal was based on previous European and North American projects that systematically reviewed the existing evidence to identify the most valid, reliable, health-related, safe, and feasible fitness tests to be used in children and adolescents aged 6–18 years. We designed a single-panel modified Delphi study and invited 216 experts from all around the world to answer this Delphi survey, of whom one-third are from low-to-middle income countries and one-third are women. Four experts were involved in the piloting of the survey and did not participate in the main Delphi study to avoid bias. We pre-defined an agreement of ≥80% among the expert participants to achieve consensus. Results: We obtained a high response rate (78%) with a total of 169 fitness experts from 50 countries and territories, including 63 women and 61 experts from low- or middle-income countries/territories. Consensus (>85% agreement) was achieved for all proposed tests and protocols, supporting the YFIT battery, which includes weight and height (to compute body mass index as a proxy of body size/composition), the 20-m shuttle run (cardiorespiratory fitness), handgrip strength, and standing long jump (muscular fitness). Conclusion: This study contributes to standardizing fitness tests and protocols used for research, monitoring, and surveillance across the world, which will allow for future data pooling and the development of international and regional sex- and age-specific reference values, health-related cut-points, and a global picture of fitness among children and adolescents.

More Information

Divisions:	Carnegie School of Sport
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2024.101012
Status:	Published
Refereed:	Yes
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
Additional Information:	© 2025 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Shanghai University of Sport
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Delphi; Experts; Fitness; Protocols; Youth Fitness International Test; 1106 Human Movement and Sports Sciences; 4201 Allied health and rehabilitation science; 4206 Public health; 4207 Sports science and exercise
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic
Depositing User (symplectic)	Deposited by Mann, Elizabeth
Date Deposited:	12 Mar 2025 15:35
Last Modified:	13 Mar 2025 21:25
Item Type:	Article

CORE (COnnecting REpositories)

The Youth Fitness International Test (YFIT) battery for monitoring and surveillance among children and adolescents: A modified Delphi consensus project with 169 experts from 50 countries and territories

Abstract

Official URL

More Information

Download

Export Citation

Share

Explore Further

Statistics

Review