Normative values for physical fitness of Greek boys and girls aged 6–18 years

OBJECTIVE To establish updated normative values of physical fitness in Greek children aged 6 to 18 years for the following measures: 20 m shuttle run, standing long jump, sit-and-reach, 10×5 m shuttle run and sit-ups, and to compare percentiles and z-scores values. METHOD The study was conducted in a representative nationwide sample from March to May 2014. Measurements were made on a total of 473,665 children (51% boys) aged 6 to 18 years. The physical fitness tests were performed and used to calculate normative values by age and sex, using the percentiles of the empirical distributions and the lambda-mu-sigma (LMS) statistical method. RESULTS The normative values of the measurements in the physical fitness tests were presented as tabulated percentiles (P) from 3 to 97 (P₃, P₁₀, P₂₅, P₅₀, P₇₅, P₉₀, P₉₇) and smoothed curves. Boys scored better than girls on cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance and speed/agility, while girls had better performances on flexibility (p