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Differences Between Health- and Skill-Related Physical Fitness Profiles of Kenyan Children from Urban and Rural Areas: The Kenya-LINX Project

Stanley Kagunda Kinuthia Orcid Logo, Gareth Stratton Orcid Logo, Lucy Joy Wachira Orcid Logo, Victor Okoth Orcid Logo, George Evans Owino Orcid Logo, Sophie Ochola, Amie Richards Orcid Logo, Festus Kiplamai, Vincent Onywera, Nils Swindell Orcid Logo

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Volume: 22, Issue: 4, Start page: 542

Swansea University Authors: Gareth Stratton Orcid Logo, Amie Richards Orcid Logo, Nils Swindell Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.3390/ijerph22040542

Abstract

Physical fitness is a key indicator of children’s health, yet amidst rising inactivity and obesity, data on Kenyan children is scarce. This study assessed health- and skill-related fitness differences between rural and urban Kenyan children while examining demo-graphic influences. Cardiorespiratory...

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Published in: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
ISSN: 1660-4601
Published: MDPI AG 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69162
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spelling 2025-04-08T15:47:49.8283730 v2 69162 2025-03-28 Differences Between Health- and Skill-Related Physical Fitness Profiles of Kenyan Children from Urban and Rural Areas: The Kenya-LINX Project 6d62b2ed126961bed81a94a2beba8a01 0000-0001-5618-0803 Gareth Stratton Gareth Stratton true false 3ef2b4a7a697e3d98ad63e842e9c45cb 0000-0003-1634-656X Amie Richards Amie Richards true false d89a0a3fb118e1cf625fddc68cdf25bb 0000-0003-3742-6139 Nils Swindell Nils Swindell true false 2025-03-28 EAAS Physical fitness is a key indicator of children’s health, yet amidst rising inactivity and obesity, data on Kenyan children is scarce. This study assessed health- and skill-related fitness differences between rural and urban Kenyan children while examining demo-graphic influences. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), BMI, strength, flexibility, speed, agility, and coordination were assessed in 1131 children aged 11.07  0.9 years (52.7% girls) recruited using stratified cluster random sampling. Significant rural-urban dispar-ities were observed. In urban areas, 16.6% were overweight and 2.8% obese, compared to 4% and 0.6% in rural areas (p < 0.001). Conversely, 44.5% of the rural cohort were un-derweight versus 13.7% urban cohort (p < 0.001). Multivariable regression revealed that rural children demonstrated superior CRF (β = −4.68 laps, p < 0.001) and lower back flexibility (β = −2.77 cm, p < 0.001), while urban children excelled in speed and coordi-nation (β = 3.68 bounces, p < 0.001) and grip strength (β = 2.16 kg, p < 0.001). Boys out-performed girls in explosive leg power (β = −6.75 cm, p < 0.001) and CRF (β = −6.92 laps, p < 0.001). These findings highlight fitness inequities among Kenyan children, emphasising the need for equitable, targeted, and inclusive physical activity opportunities. Journal Article International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 22 4 542 MDPI AG 1660-4601 body mass index; cardiorespiratory fitness; health disparities; physical fitness 2 4 2025 2025-04-02 10.3390/ijerph22040542 COLLEGE NANME Engineering and Applied Sciences School COLLEGE CODE EAAS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee The Global Challenge Research Fund supported pump priming research that led to this project. The Kenya-Linx project was funded by the British Academy under the Urban Infrastructure for Wellbeing scheme (grant number UWB190069). The funders had no role in the study’s design, data collection and analysis, manuscript preparation, or the decision to publish. 2025-04-08T15:47:49.8283730 2025-03-28T10:58:58.5088726 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences Stanley Kagunda Kinuthia 0000-0002-0085-6058 1 Gareth Stratton 0000-0001-5618-0803 2 Lucy Joy Wachira 0000-0003-2805-5997 3 Victor Okoth 0009-0007-8478-8235 4 George Evans Owino 0000-0002-5295-8937 5 Sophie Ochola 6 Amie Richards 0000-0003-1634-656X 7 Festus Kiplamai 8 Vincent Onywera 9 Nils Swindell 0000-0003-3742-6139 10 69162__33968__7fd0d4ba4501418fa05603dbadba298a.pdf 69162.VoR.pdf 2025-04-08T15:45:52.0805241 Output 333687 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Differences Between Health- and Skill-Related Physical Fitness Profiles of Kenyan Children from Urban and Rural Areas: The Kenya-LINX Project
spellingShingle Differences Between Health- and Skill-Related Physical Fitness Profiles of Kenyan Children from Urban and Rural Areas: The Kenya-LINX Project
Gareth Stratton
Amie Richards
Nils Swindell
title_short Differences Between Health- and Skill-Related Physical Fitness Profiles of Kenyan Children from Urban and Rural Areas: The Kenya-LINX Project
title_full Differences Between Health- and Skill-Related Physical Fitness Profiles of Kenyan Children from Urban and Rural Areas: The Kenya-LINX Project
title_fullStr Differences Between Health- and Skill-Related Physical Fitness Profiles of Kenyan Children from Urban and Rural Areas: The Kenya-LINX Project
title_full_unstemmed Differences Between Health- and Skill-Related Physical Fitness Profiles of Kenyan Children from Urban and Rural Areas: The Kenya-LINX Project
title_sort Differences Between Health- and Skill-Related Physical Fitness Profiles of Kenyan Children from Urban and Rural Areas: The Kenya-LINX Project
author_id_str_mv 6d62b2ed126961bed81a94a2beba8a01
3ef2b4a7a697e3d98ad63e842e9c45cb
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author_id_fullname_str_mv 6d62b2ed126961bed81a94a2beba8a01_***_Gareth Stratton
3ef2b4a7a697e3d98ad63e842e9c45cb_***_Amie Richards
d89a0a3fb118e1cf625fddc68cdf25bb_***_Nils Swindell
author Gareth Stratton
Amie Richards
Nils Swindell
author2 Stanley Kagunda Kinuthia
Gareth Stratton
Lucy Joy Wachira
Victor Okoth
George Evans Owino
Sophie Ochola
Amie Richards
Festus Kiplamai
Vincent Onywera
Nils Swindell
format Journal article
container_title International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
container_volume 22
container_issue 4
container_start_page 542
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 1660-4601
doi_str_mv 10.3390/ijerph22040542
publisher MDPI AG
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Physical fitness is a key indicator of children’s health, yet amidst rising inactivity and obesity, data on Kenyan children is scarce. This study assessed health- and skill-related fitness differences between rural and urban Kenyan children while examining demo-graphic influences. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), BMI, strength, flexibility, speed, agility, and coordination were assessed in 1131 children aged 11.07  0.9 years (52.7% girls) recruited using stratified cluster random sampling. Significant rural-urban dispar-ities were observed. In urban areas, 16.6% were overweight and 2.8% obese, compared to 4% and 0.6% in rural areas (p < 0.001). Conversely, 44.5% of the rural cohort were un-derweight versus 13.7% urban cohort (p < 0.001). Multivariable regression revealed that rural children demonstrated superior CRF (β = −4.68 laps, p < 0.001) and lower back flexibility (β = −2.77 cm, p < 0.001), while urban children excelled in speed and coordi-nation (β = 3.68 bounces, p < 0.001) and grip strength (β = 2.16 kg, p < 0.001). Boys out-performed girls in explosive leg power (β = −6.75 cm, p < 0.001) and CRF (β = −6.92 laps, p < 0.001). These findings highlight fitness inequities among Kenyan children, emphasising the need for equitable, targeted, and inclusive physical activity opportunities.
published_date 2025-04-02T05:27:27Z
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