Genetic Regulation of Physical Fitness in Children : A Twin Study of 15 Tests from Eurofit and Fitnessgram Test Batteries

This is a sel -a chi ed e sion o an o iginal a icle. This e sion may di e om he o iginal in pagina ion and ypog aphic de ails. Au ho (s): Ti le: Yea : Ve sion: Copy igh : Righ s: Righ s u l: Please ci e he o iginal e sion: CC BY 4.0 h ps://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/4.0/ Gene ic Regula ion o Physical Fi ness in Child en : A Twin S udy o 15 Tes s om Eu o i and Fi nessg am Tes Ba e ies © 2024 The Au ho (s). Published by Wol e s Kluwe Heal h, Inc. on behal o he Ame ican College o Spo s Medicine. Published e sion Sil en oinen, Ka i; Maia, Jose; Sillanpaa, Elina; Sund, Reijo; Gou eia, El io R.; An unes, An onio; Ma ques, Goncalo; Thomis, Ma ine; Kap io, Jaakko; F ei as, Dua e Sil en oinen, K., Maia, J., Sillanpaa, E., Sund, R., Gou eia, E. R., An unes, A., Ma ques, G., Thomis, M., Kap io, J., & F ei as, D. (2024). Gene ic Regula ion o Physical Fi ness in Child en : A Twin S udy o 15 Tes s om Eu o i and Fi nessg am Tes Ba e ies. Medicine and Science in Spo s and Exe cise, 56, 2000-2006. h ps://doi.o g/10.1249/MSS.0000000000003496 2024 Gene ic Regula ion o Physical Fi ness in Child en: A Twin S udy o 15 Tes s om Eu o i and Fi nessg am Tes Ba e ies KARRI SILVENTOINEN 1,2 ,JOSÉMAIA 3 , ELINA SILLANPÄÄ 4,5 ,REIJOSUND 6 , ÉLVIO R. GOUVEIA 7,8 , ANTÓNIO ANTUNES 7 , GONÇALO MARQUES 7 , MARTINE THOMIS 9 , JAAKKO KAPRIO 10 , and DUARTE FREITAS 3,7 1 Popula ion Resea ch Uni , Facul y o Social Sciences, Uni e si y o Helsinki, Helsinki, FINLAND; 2 Resea ch Ins i u e o Human De elopmen , Kyo o In e na ional Social Wel a e Exchange Cen e, Kyo o, JAPAN; 3 Cen e o Resea ch, Educa ion, Inno a ion and In e en ion in Spo (CIFI2D), Facul y o Spo , Uni e si y o Po o, Po o, PORTUGAL; 4 Ge on ology Resea ch Cen e , Facul y o Spo and Heal h Sciences, Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, Jy äskylä, FINLAND; 5 The Wellbeing Se ices Coun y o Cen al Finland, Jy äskylä, FINLAND; 6 Ins i u e o Clinical Medicine, Uni e si y o Eas e n Finland, Kuopio, FINLAND; 7 Depa men o Physical Educa ion and Spo , Uni e si y o Madei a, Funchal, PORTUGAL; 8 LARSYS, In e ac i e Technologies Ins i u e, Funchal, PORTUGAL; 9 Physical Ac i i y, Spo s & Heal h Resea ch G oup, Depa men o Mo emen Sciences, Facul y o Mo emen and Rehabili a ion Sciences, KU Leu en, Leu en, BELGIUM; and 10 Ins i u e o Molecula Medicine Finland (FIMM), HiLIFE, Uni e si y o Helsinki, Helsinki, FINLAND ABSTRACT SILVENTOINEN, K., J. MAIA, E. SILLANPÄÄ, R. SUND, É. R. GOUVEIA, A. ANTUNES, G. MARQUES, M. THOMIS, J. KAPRIO, and D. FREITAS. Gene ic Regula ion o Physical Fi ness in Child en: A Twin S udy o 15 Tes s om Eu o i and Fi nessg am Tes Ba e ies. Med. Sci. Spo s Exe c., Vol. 56, No. 10, pp. 2000 - 2006, 2024. Pu pose: This s udy aimed o analyze he sha ed gene ic backg ound o phys- ical i ness es s in child en. Me hods: Physical i ness was assessed in 198 Po uguese win pai s (6–18 y old, 40% monozygo ic) h ough 15 es s om he Eu o i and Fi nessg am es ba e ies. Gene ic win modeling was used o es ima e he he i abili y o each es and he gene ic co ela ions be ween hem. Resul s: Gi ls pe o med be e han boys in lexibili y, whe eas boys pe o med be e han gi ls in ca dio espi a o y endu ance and muscula s eng h. No sex di e ences we e ound in he in luence o gene ic ac o s on he physical i ness es s o hei mu ual co - ela ions. Gene ic ac o s explained 52% (s anding long jump) o 79% (si and each) o he indi idual a ia ion in mo o pe o mance, whe eas indi idual-speci ic en i onmen al ac o s explained he emaining a ia ion. Mos o he es s showed modes o mode a e gene ic co ela ions. Ou o all 105 gene ic co ela ions, 65% anged om 0.2 o 0.6 indica ing ha hey sha ed om 4% o 36% o gene ic a ia ion. The co ela ions be ween indi idual-speci ic en i onmen al ac o s we e mos ly negligible. Conclusions: Tes s measu ing he s eng h o di e en muscle g oups showed only modes co ela ions, bu mode a e co ela ions we e ound be ween es s measu ing explosi e s eng h, unning speed/agili y, and ca - dio espi a o y endu ance. Gene ic ac o s explained a majo po ion o he a ia ion in es s included in he Eu o i and Fi nessg am es ba e iesand explained he co ela ions be ween hem. The modes o mode a e gene ic co ela ions indica ed ha he e is li le edundancy o es s in ei he Eu o i o Fi nessg am es ba e ies. Key Wo ds: CHILDREN, GENETIC CORRELATIONS, HERITABILITY, PHYSICAL FITNESS High le els o physical i ness in childhood play a key ole in a heal hy adul li e (1). Howe e , physical i - ness is no a single ope a ional concep bu a he a combina ion o in e ela ed componen s, mos impo an ly ca dio espi a o y endu ance, muscula s eng h, and agili y (2). Each componen o physical i ness migh be ela ed o somewha di e en heal h ou comes, e en when hey all p e- dic good heal h (3). Du ing he las decades, he le els o physical i ness ha e declined in school-aged child en and ad- olescen s c ea ing a majo public heal h challenge (4,5). Phys- ical i ness assessmen is c ucial in esponding o his challenge because i allows us o e alua e he need and e ec i eness o in e en ion p og ams and o iden i y and ollow child en who need addi ional suppo . In he op imal case, he es s used o assess physical i ness should be alid, eliable, and p ac ical so ha hey can be conduc ed in schools and you h Add ess o co espondence: Ka i Sil en oinen, PhD, Popula ion Resea ch Uni , Facul y o Social Sciences, Uni e si y o Helsinki, P.O. Box 42, Helsinki FIN-00014, Finland; E-mail: ka i.sil en oinen@helsinki. i. Submi ed o publica ion No embe 2023. Accep ed o publica ion May 2024. Supplemen al digi al con en is a ailable o his a icle. Di ec URL ci a ions appea in he p in ed ex and a e p o ided in he HTML and PDF e sions o his a icle on he jou nal’s Web si e (www.acsm-msse.o g). 0195-9131/24/5610-2000/0 MEDICINE & SCIENCE IN SPORTS & EXERCISE ® Copy igh © 2024 The Au ho (s). Published by Wol e s Kluwe Heal h, Inc. on behal o he Ame ican College o Spo s Medicine. This is an open access a icle dis ibu ed unde he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion License 4.0 (CCBY), which pe mi s un es ic ed use, dis ibu ion, and ep oduc ion in any medium, p o ided he o iginal wo k is p ope ly ci ed. DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003496 2000 APPLIED SCIENCES Downloaded om h p://jou nals.lww.com/acsm-msse by BhDM 5ePHKa 1zEoum1 Q N4a+kJLhEZgbsIHo4XMi0hCyw CX1AWnYQp/IlQ HD3i3D0OdRyi7T SFl4C 3VC1y0abggQZXd wn KZBY ws= on 12/16/2024 spo s se ings wi hou equi ing specialized ins umen s o echnical expe ise (6). S udying he ac o s behind indi idual di e ences inca dio- espi a o y endu ance, muscula s eng h, and mo o pe o - mance can also p o ide insigh in o he backg ound o hese physical i ness componen s. The e is a s ong body o e i- dence on he impo ance o gene ic ac o s behind he a ia ion in physical i ness. Twin s udies ha e shown mode a e he i a- bili y o di e en measu es o physical i ness (7–9), and genome-wide associa ion s udies ha e iden i ied a numbe o gene ic a ian s associa ed wi h muscula s eng h (10) and ca - dio espi a o y endu ance (11). The e is also in o ma ion on how gene ic ac o s con ibu e o he co a ia ion be ween physical i ness es s. A Du ch win s udy wi h in o ma ion on ou phys- ical i ness es s (7) and a Swedish win and amily s udy wi h in o ma ion on h ee muscula s eng h es s (12) ound ha he majo pa (47%–99%) o he co a ia ion be ween hese es s was due o sha ed gene ic ac o s. A limi a ion o hese s udies is he small numbe o es s, which does no allow o a ull assessmen o he componen s o physical i ness. A comp ehensi e analysis o he sha ed gene ic backg ound o mul iple es s co e ing di e en componen s o physical i - ness would ha e bo h scien i ic and clinical impo ance. F om a scien i ic pe spec i e, a high gene ic co ela ion be ween wo es s may sugges a sha ed biological backg ound, such as measu ing he pe o mance o he same muscle g oups. F om a clinical pe spec i e, high co ela ions indica e edundancy and can help selec he mos in o ma i e es s, especially i he ime o es ing is limi ed. This s udy add esses his gap using win da a on child en who pe o med 15 es s om wo widely used physical i ness es ba e ies. We aim o analyze he unde - lying s uc u e o co ela ions be ween all es s and o es ima e how much hey sha e common gene ic a ia ion. The win de- sign also allows o con olling in aindi idual a ia ion in phys- ical pe o mance, which can con ibu e o he co ela ions o pe - o mance in di e en physical i ness es s. DATA AND METHODS Ou s udy coho was de i ed om he Madei a Twin Fam- ily S udy (13). In o ma ion on wins was ob ained by con- ac ing he execu i e boa ds o all public and p i a e schools in he Au onomous Region o Madei a, Po ugal, and asking whe he hey had win s uden s. In i a ion le e s we e hen sen o 434 amilies wi h wins. A o al o 216 amilies pa ic- ipa ed in a clinical exam in he capi al ci y o Funchal. We e- mo ed 18 win pai s less han 6 y o age because he physical i ness es s we e no adjus ed o hese ages, and hus, we had 198 win pai s (6–18 y o age; 51% gi ls) in he analyses. The Scien i ic Boa d o he Uni e si y o Madei a app o ed he s udy p o ocol. The pa icipan s and/o hei pa en s o legal gua dians p o ided w i en in o med consen . Zygosi y was assessed based on 15 au osomal gene ic ma ke s and a sex- de e mining ma ke (AmpFISTR Iden i ile ki ) om a blood es he child en ga e du ing he clinical examina ion (14): 78 we e monozygo ic (MZ), 69 same-sex dizygo ic, and 51 opposi e-sex dizygo ic pai s. Physical i ness was assessed h ough wo es ba e ies: he Eu o i and he Fi nessg am. The Eu o i included nine es s ( lamingo balance, pla e apping, si and each, s anding long jump, handg ip, si -ups, ben a m hang, shu le un o 10 × 5 m, and 12-min un/walk). The Fi nessg am included six es s (si and each igh , si and each le , unk li , cu l up, push-up, and 20-m shu le un). Resea che s wi h ex en- si e expe ience in Kinan h opome y assessed he pa icipan s acco ding o he Eu o i (15) and Fi nessg am (16) es ba e y p o ocols. The child en pe o med he es s wi h hei win sib- lings and we e accompanied by hei pa en s. In s a is ical modeling, we e e sed he scales o lamingo balance, pla e apping, and shu le un o 10 × 5 m so ha o all es s highe alues indica e be e pe o mances. Fu he mo e, we adjus ed he physical i ness es s o age and he squa e o age because hey showed s a is ically signi ican associa ions wi h mos o hem. This was done by calcula ing eg ession esiduals o each es sepa a ely in boys and gi ls using he S a a s a is ical package, e sion 17 o Windows (S a aCo p, College S a ion, TX). Because means and SD di e ed be ween boys and gi ls (Supplemen al Table 1, Supplemen al Digi al Con en , h p:// links.lww.com/MSS/D54) o mos es s, we also s anda dized hem in boys and gi ls o be able o p esen pooled analyses. Howe e , we p esen ed he sex-speci ic esul s in appendixes o con i m ha p esen ing pooled analyses does no conceal any di e ences be ween boys and gi ls. Linea eg ession models we e used o s a is ical es ing in desc ip i e analyses a e co ec ing he s anda d e o s o he lack o s a is ical in- dependence o wins sampled as pai s (17). We used gene ic win modeling o ob ain in o ma ion on he con ibu ion o gene ic and en i onmen al ac o s o he a ia- ion and co a ia ion o he es i ems (18). This me hod is based on he p inciple ha MZ wins sha e i ually he same genomic sequence, whe eas dizygo ic (DZ) wins sha e, on a - e age, 50% o hei genes iden ical-by-descen , simila o o di- na y siblings. This allows o es ima ing he unde lying co e- la ion s uc u e wi hin co- wins and decomposing he a ia ion o he pe o mance ineach es and he co a ia ion be ween he pe o mance in di e en es s in o gene ic and en i onmen- al componen s. Addi i e gene ic a iance (A; co ela ion 1 wi hin MZ and 0.5 wi hin DZ pai s) includes he e ec s o all loci a ec ing he es pe o mance. Sha ed en i onmen al a i- ance (C; co ela ion 1 wi hin bo h MZ and DZ pai s) includes he e ec s o all en i onmen al ac o s ha make co- wins sim- ila . Unique en i onmen al a iance (E; co ela ion 0 wi hin bo h MZ and DZ wins) includes he e ec s o all en i onmen- al ac o s ha make co- wins di e en including measu emen e o and in e indi idual luc ua ion in physical pe o mance. We s a ed he analyses using uni a ia e gene ic models o es he assump ions o win modeling, ind he bes - i ing model, and calcula e he i abili y es ima es (18). DZ co ela- ions we e mo e han hal o MZ co ela ions indica ing a pos- sible ole o sha ed en i onmen al ac o s (Supplemen al Table 2, Supplemen al Digi al Con en , h p://links.lww.com/ GENETIC REGULATION OF PHYSICAL FITNESS Medicine & Science in Spo s & Exe cise ® 2001 APPLIED SCIENCES Downloaded om h p://jou nals.lww.com/acsm-msse by BhDM 5ePHKa 1zEoum1 Q N4a+kJLhEZgbsIHo4XMi0hCyw CX1AWnYQp/IlQ HD3i3D0OdRyi7T SFl4C 3VC1y0abggQZXd wn KZBY ws= on 12/16/2024 MSS/D54). The e o e, we used he addi i e gene ic/sha ed en i onmen /unique en i onmen (ACE) model as he s a ing poin o gene ic analyses. The model i s a is ics a e p esen ed in Supplemen al Table 3 (Supplemen al Digi al Con en , h p://links.lww.com/MSS/D54). We did no ind any e i- dence o sex-speci ic gene ic e ec s and we e able o ha e he same pa ame e es ima es o boys and gi ls. When we ap- plied a mo e pa simonious addi i e gene ic/unique en i on- men (AE) model, i i well compa ed wi h he ACE model, sugges ing ha sha ed en i onmen al ac o s a e no needed in he model. This is also consis en wi h p e ious win s ud- ies, as summa ized in h ee me a-analyses, which did no ind e idence o he e ec o sha ed en i onmen al ac o s on physical i ness (7–9). Thus, we used he AE model wi hou sex-speci ic gene ic ac o s and he same pa ame e es ima es o boys and gi ls o u he gene ic modeling. Fo mos phys- ical i ness es s, his model i he da a well when compa ed wi h he sa u a ed model—which does no make any assump- ions and es ima es all possible s a is ics eely—sugges ing ha he e is no iola ion o he assump ions o win modeling (i.e., he same means and SDs o bo h co- wins in he pai as well as MZ and DZ wins). Using he con en ional P alue o 0.05, less han op imal i was ound o 6 es s, bu o h ee o hem, he P alue was abo e he Bon e oni-co ec ed P alue (0.003 o 15 es s) and migh be due o mul iple es ing. How- e e , o ben a m hang, 12-min un/walk and cu l up, he model sugges ed some iola ions. When we analyzed his in de ail, we ound some di e ences in means and SDs be ween MZ and DZ wins, bu hey did no show any sys ema ic pa e n (Supple- men al Table 1, Supplemen al Digi al Con en , h p://links. lww.com/MSS/D54). Thus, we needed o expec ha o hese ai s, wins a e ep esen a i e o he same basic popula ion. A e conduc ing uni a ia e models, we used bi a ia e Cholesky decomposi ion o calcula e he gene ic and en i on- men al co a ia ion unde lying he co ela ions be ween he es s (19). Cholesky decomposi ion is a model- ee me hod and hus does no make any assump ion abou he unde lying co ela ion s uc u e bu decomposes all a ia ion and co a ia ion in he da a in o unco ela ed la en ac o s. S anda dizing hese co a ia es p o ides us wi h he es ima es o addi i e gene ic and unique en i- onmen al co ela ions. The gene ic win modeling was conduc ed using he OpenMx package, e sion 3.0.2, o he R s a is ical so wa e (20). The model pa ame e s and hei 95% con idence in e als (CI) we e es ima ed h ough he s uc u al equa ion me hodology and using he maximum likelihood es ima o . RESULTS Table 1 p esen s he desc ip i e s a is ics by sex. Gi ls we e ahead o boys in all h ee si and each es s, whe eas boys pe - o med be e han gi ls in he s anding long jump, handg ip, si -ups, ben a m hang, cu l up, and push-up, as well as in he h ee unning/walking es s. Fo lamingo balance, pla e apping, and unk li , he e we e no s a is ically signi ican di e ences be ween boys and gi ls. We began he gene ic modeling by using uni a ia e gene ic models o analyze he ela i e con ibu ions o addi i e gene ic and unique en i onmen al ac o s o he physical i ness es s (Table 2). All es s showed mode a e o high he i abili ies. The p opo ions o indi idual a ia ion explained by gene ic ac o s a ied om 52% (s anding long jump) o 79% (si and each and ben a m hang). When he analyses we e s a i- ied by sex, no clea sex di e ences we e obse ed. Boys showed highe he i abili y es ima es han gi ls in some es s, whe eas gi ls showed highe he i abili y es ima es han boys in o he es s (Supplemen al Table 4, Supplemen al Digi al Con en , h p://links.lww.com/MSS/D54). We hen analyzed he pai wise co ela ions be ween all physical i ness es s. Figu e 1 p esen s he co ela ions be- ween all es s in boys ( igh iangula ma ix) and gi ls (le iangula ma ix); he 95% CIs o hese co ela ions a e a ail- able in Supplemen al Table 5 (Supplemen al Digi al Con en , h p://links.lww.com/MSS/D54). The ai co ela ions we e oughly simila in boys and gi ls. The la ges sex di e ence in hese co ela ions was 0.27. Fo 70 o he 105 pai wise TABLE 1. Means and SD o physical i ness es s by sex. Boys Gi ls PValue o Sex Di e ence a Mean SD Mean SD Eu o i Flamingo balance (No a emp s) 21.0 8.27 21.4 8.01 0.7090 Pla e apping (s) 17.1 4.63 16.9 4.62 0.7720 Si and each (cm) 15.4 6.11 19.2 6.89 <0.0001 S anding long jump (cm) 130 33.1 116 25.5 <0.0001 Handg ip (kg) 19.7 10.58 17.1 8.22 0.0280 Si -ups (Nin 30 s) 16.9 6.91 14.0 5.85 <0.0001 Ben a m hang (s) 9.6 11.81 3.7 3.95 <0.0001 Shu le un(10×5m)(s) 23.4 3.39 24.6 2.57 0.0010 12-min un/walk (m) 1756 470 1524 366 <0.0001 Fi nessg am Si and each igh (cm) 22.8 6.69 26.0 6.90 <0.0001 Si and each le (cm) 22.2 6.65 25.4 7.17 <0.0001 T unk li (cm) 24.8 5.28 25.7 4.78 0.1130 Cu l up (N) 14.3 20.45 8.8 12.63 0.0070 Push-up (N) 8.5 7.97 5.0 4.93 <0.0001 20-m shu le un (lap numbe ) 27.8 18.0 19.0 10.6 <0.0001 a Adjus ed o age. TABLE 2. Addi i e gene ic and unique en i onmen al a iance componen s o physical i - ness es s in boys and gi ls. Addi i e Gene ic Fac o s Unique En i onmen al Fac o s a 2 95% CI e 2 95% CI LL UL LL UL Eu o i Flamingo balance 0.60 0.47 0.70 0.40 0.30 0.53 Pla e apping 0.72 0.61 0.79 0.28 0.21 0.39 Si and each 0.79 0.70 0.86 0.21 0.14 0.30 S anding long jump 0.52 0.37 0.64 0.48 0.36 0.63 Handg ip 0.71 0.61 0.78 0.29 0.22 0.39 Si -ups 0.76 0.65 0.83 0.24 0.17 0.35 Ben a m hang 0.79 0.70 0.85 0.21 0.15 0.30 Shu le un (10 × 5 m) 0.65 0.52 0.74 0.35 0.26 0.48 12-min un/walk 0.75 0.66 0.81 0.25 0.19 0.34 Fi nessg am Si and each igh 0.74 0.63 0.81 0.26 0.19 0.37 Si and each le 0.74 0.65 0.81 0.26 0.19 0.35 T unk li 0.60 0.47 0.70 0.40 0.30 0.53 Cu l up 0.62 0.48 0.72 0.38 0.28 0.52 Push-up 0.64 0.52 0.73 0.36 0.27 0.48 20-m shu le un 0.76 0.68 0.83 0.24 0.17 0.32 LL and UL, he lowe and uppe limi s o he CI. h p://www.acsm-msse.o g2002 O icial Jou nal o he Ame ican College o Spo s Medicine APPLIED SCIENCES Downloaded om h p://jou nals.lww.com/acsm-msse by BhDM 5ePHKa 1zEoum1 Q N4a+kJLhEZgbsIHo4XMi0hCyw CX1AWnYQp/IlQ HD3i3D0OdRyi7T SFl4C 3VC1y0abggQZXd wn KZBY ws= on 12/16/2024 co ela ions, he di e ence was 0.10 o less. Only 12 o hese co ela ions showed s a is ically signi ican sex di e ences (P< 0.05), and none o hem we e s a is ically signi ican using he Bon e oni-co ec ed P alue (<0.00048 o 105 es s; Supplemen al Table 6, Supplemen al Digi al Con en , h p://links.lww.com/MSS/D54). Finally, we conduc ed Cholesky decomposi ion o decom- pose hese ai co ela ions in o gene ic and en i onmen al componen s. Figu e 2 p esen s addi i e gene ic ( igh iangu- la ma ix) and unique en i onmen al co ela ions (le ian- gula ma ix) in he pooled da a o boys and gi ls; he 95% CIs o hese co ela ions a e a ailable in Supplemen al Table 7 (Supplemen al Digi al Con en , h p://links.lww.com/MSS/ D54). Addi i e gene ic co ela ions we e sys ema ically highe han he ai co ela ions (Fig. 1), whe eas unique en i on- men al co ela ions we e weak and many o hem nega i e. The highes gene ic co ela ions ( A ≥0.91) we e ound be- ween he h ee si and each es s, bu o he wise, mos o hem a ied om modes o mode a e. Gene ally, nea ly all es s showed some gene ic co ela ions wi h each o he . Ou o he 105 gene ic co ela ions, 65% (68 gene ic co ela ions) a ied be ween 0.2 and 0.6 indica ing ha om 4% o 36% o he ge- ne ic a ia ion was sha ed be ween hese es s. When hese analyses we e s a i ied by sex, we did no ind any sys ema ic di e ences in he addi i e gene ic (Supplemen al Table 8, Supplemen al Digi al Con en , h p://links.lww.com/MSS/ D54) o unique en i onmen al co ela ions be ween boys and gi ls (Supplemen al Table 9, Supplemen al Digi al Con- en , h p://links.lww.com/MSS/D54). DISCUSSION In his gene ically in o ma i e s udy o child en and adoles- cen s, we aimed o gain mo e insigh in o he ac o s unde ly- ing indi idual a ia ion in physical i ness. Boys ou pe o med gi ls in es s measu ing ca dio espi a o y endu ance and mus- cula s eng h, as has been sys ema ically demons a ed in p e- ious s udies (21). Howe e , we ound only mino sex di e - ences in he gene ic backg ound o es pe o mance. Fi s , we did no ind any e idence o sex-speci ic gene ic ac o s, and he he i abili y es ima es we e oughly simila in bo h sexes. Second, we ound ha bo h ai and gene ic co ela ions be ween physical i ness es s we e oughly simila in boys and gi ls. Ou da a allowed o he compa ison o he i abili y es i- ma es among se e al physical i ness es s, which has been a e in p e ious win s udies. Th ee me a-analyses epo ed he lowes he i abili y o balance (a 2 = 0.35) and he highes he i abili y o ˙ VO 2max (a 2 =0.68)(7–9). Howe e , he ˙ VO 2max was no objec i ely measu ed in he cu en s udy. A limi a ion o he p e ious me a-analysis is ha hese es ima es come om di e en s udies, making i di icul o compa e hem gi en he di e ences be ween he s udy popula ions. A no able excep ion is a Belgian s udy o 10-y -old wins, which used he Eu o i es ba e y bu included sligh ly di e en es s and p o ocols compa ed wi h ou s udy (22). Because his s udy u ilized a somewha di e en s a is ical model, we ecalcula ed he he i abili y es ima es based on he epo ed FIGURE 1—T ai co ela ions o boys ( igh iangula ma ix) and gi ls (le iangula ma ix) be ween physical i ness es s. Scales o la- mingo balance, pla e apping, and shu le un (10 × 5 m) we e e e sed, and he e o e, a high sco e indica es a be e pe o mance. ba mhang, ben a m hang; cu lup, cu l up; balance, lamingo balance; handg ip, handg ip; longjump, s anding long jump; pla e ap, pla e apping; pushup, push-up; un12min, 12-min un/walk; shu le un, shu le un 10 × 5 m; si each, si and each; si eachl, si and each le ; si each , si and each igh ; si ups, si -ups; s un20m, 20-m shu le un; unkli , unk li . FIGURE 2—Addi i e gene ic co ela ions ( igh iangula ma ix) and unique en i onmen al co ela ions (le iangula ma ix) be ween phys- ical i ness es s in boys and gi ls. Scales o lamingo balance, pla e ap- ping, and shu le un (10 × 5 m) we e e e sed, and he e o e, a high sco e indica es a be e pe o mance. ba mhang, ben a m hang; cu lup, cu l up; balance, lamingo balance; handg ip, handg ip; longjump, s anding long jump; pla e ap, pla e apping; pushup, push-up; un 12min, 12-min un/walk; shu le un, shu le un 10 × 5 m; si each, si and each; si eachl, si and each le ; si each , si and each igh ; si ups, si -ups; s un20m, 20-m shu le un; unkli , unk li . GENETIC REGULATION OF PHYSICAL FITNESS Medicine & Science in Spo s & Exe cise ® 2003 APPLIED SCIENCES Downloaded om h p://jou nals.lww.com/acsm-msse by BhDM 5ePHKa 1zEoum1 Q N4a+kJLhEZgbsIHo4XMi0hCyw CX1AWnYQp/IlQ HD3i3D0OdRyi7T SFl4C 3VC1y0abggQZXd wn KZBY ws= on 12/16/2024 win co ela ions using he same model used in ou s udy ( he pa ame e s’es ima es and modeling de ails a e a ailable in Supplemen al Table 10, Supplemen al Digi al Con en , h p://links.lww.com/MSS/D54). The he i abili y es ima es compa ed well wi h he ones o he cu en s udy. The si - and- each es showed he highes he i abili y in ou s udy (a 2 = 0.79) and in he Belgian s udy (a 2 = 0.84), whe eas he lowes he i abili y was ound o he s anding long jump (a 2 = 0.52) and lamingo balance es (a 2 = 0.48) in hese s ud- ies, espec i ely. When compa ed wi h o he ai s, he he i abili y es ima es o physical i ness es s we e simila o sligh ly lowe han hose o heigh (23) and body mass index (24) du ing child- hood and adolescence and highe han hose ound o pe son- ali y and o he psychological ai s in ea ly adul hood (25). This sugges s ha physical i ness p ima ily e lec s biological cha ac e is ics, whe eas beha io al and psychological ac o s may also ha e an impac . The con ibu ions o hese di e en ac o s may also a y be ween es i ems, asseen in he a ying he i abili y es ima es. In e es ingly, high he i abili y es ima es o he si -and- each es s we e ound in he child en who pa - icipa ed in ou s udy and he 10-y -old Belgian win pai s (22). The high he i abili y o he si -and- each es may be due o i s e lec ion o pu ely ana omical ac o s, whe eas o he es s, such as lamingo balance, may be a ec ed by addi ional ac o s, suchas ainingand pe sonali y, esul ing in lowe he - i abili y. Howe e , i is impo an o exe cise cau ion when d awing any i m conclusions abou he size o he i abili y es- ima es due o he mainly o e lapping CIs. Ou esul s on he sha ed gene ic backg ound be ween he physical i ness es s a e no el. Apa om he h ee si -and- each es s, which showed nea ly pe ec gene ic co ela ion ( A ≥0.91), he gene ic co ela ions be ween he physical i - ness es s a ied om modes o mode a e. In a Swedish s udy using clinical measu es o knee ex ension, hand g ip, and el- bow lexion s eng h, mode a e gene ic co ela ions we e ound ( A =0.43–0.54), suppo ing he conclusion ha di e - en gene ic componen s a ec he pe o mance o di e en muscle g oups (12). I is wo h no ing ha we ound ela i ely high gene ic co ela ions be ween es s measu ing di e en componen s o physical i ness. Fo example, s anding long jump showed a gene ic co ela ion o 0.55 wi h lamingo bal- ance, 0.60 wi h si -ups, and 0.69 wi h shu le un o 10 × 5 m. Ne e heless, e en when mode a e, he gene ic co ela ions we e much highe han he unique en i onmen al co ela ions. This shows ha gene ic ac o s unde lie he co a iance o di - e en physical i ness es s as ound in p e ious s udies (7,12). These gene ic co ela ions also demons a e ha he co ela- ions be ween hese physical i ness es s a e no caused by in- e indi idual a ia ion, as his a ia ion is modeled as pa o unique en i onmen al co ela ions. The mul idimensional s uc u e o physical i ness can con- ibu e o he mode a e o modes gene ic co ela ions be ween he physical i ness es s. Physical i ness is in luenced by bo h physiological ac o s, especially body composi ion (26), and beha io al ac o s, pa icula ly physical ac i i y (27,28), which may also be in luenced by gene ic ac o s (29,30). The gene ic backg ound o hese physical i ness es s is likely mul idi- mensional, including gene ic ac o s associa ed wi h body composi ion, physical ac i i y, and e en mo i a ion (31). Thus, i is unde s andable ha , o example, he gene ic p edis- posi ion o ae obic i ness de elops lowe limb s eng h and balance, leading o gene ic co ela ions be ween hem. F om a clinical pe spec i e, he mode a e and modes gene ic co ela ions indica e li le edundancy in he es s in- cluded in hese es ba e ies. The excep ion is he wo si - and- each es s om Fi nessg am, which seem unnecessa y conside ing hei e y high ai and gene ic co ela ions. The gene ic co ela ions be ween unk li and he o he es s we e gene ally low, sugges ing ha his es cap u es a ia ion no cap u ed by he o he es s. On he o he hand, push-up, s and- ing long jump, and 20-m shu le un showed mode a e co ela- ions wi h nea ly all o he es s. Thus, i he e is a possibili y o only one o a ew es s, hese es s a e good op ions because hey cap u e a ia ion om he whole es ba e ies. I is also in e es ing ha many o he unique en i onmen al co ela- ions, e en when small, we e nega i e. This may sugges ha he pe o mance in one es nega i ely a ec s he pe o mance in ano he es . Thus, ex ensi e es ing may dec ease he eli- abili y o indi idual es s. The e is p e ious e idence ha bo h amily- (32) and neighbo hood-le el ac o s can a ec he physical i ness o child en (33). Howe e , all hese e ec s a e sha ed by co- wins and a e hus modeled as pa o sha ed en i onmen al e - ec s o which we did no ind e idence. This is in acco dance wi ha p e ious s udy om Madei a, which ound li le and un- sys ema ic di e ences in physical i ness among child en om high, a e age, and low socioeconomic s a us (34). These e- sul s sugges ha he e a e no majo di e ences be ween am- ilies and neighbo hoods a ec ing physical i ness in ou da a. Howe e , hese esul s can be con ex -speci ic, and in some o he popula ions, social-le el ac o s can ha e mo e in luence on he physical i ness in child en. Ou da a ha e bo h s eng hs and limi a ions. Ou main s eng h is he e y de ailed measu es o physical i ness—15 es s om wo widely used physical i ness es ba e ies—in gene ically in o ma i e da a. To ou knowledge, no p e ious s udy has been able o analyze in such de ail he common ge- ne ic backg ound o di e en physical i ness es s. In addi- ion, Sou he n Eu opean popula ions a e less well s udied in human gene ics han No he n Eu opean and No h Ame ican popula ions o Eu opean ances y. The child en and adolescen s who pa icipa ed in he examina ion did so olun a ily, along wi h hei win siblings and pa en s. This may ha e inc eased hei mo i a ion compa ed wi h a scena io whe e he es s we e conduc ed as pa o physical educa ion. Ou main limi a ion is ha he sample size was oo small o s udy any age di e ences, and gene ally sepa a ing common en i onmen al e ec s om addi i e gene ic e ec s needs conside able s a is ical powe (35). We did no ind e idence ha common en i onmen al ac- o s would a ec he a ia ion o physical pe o mance. How- e e , i is s ill possible ha common en i onmen al e ec s h p://www.acsm-msse.o g2004 O icial Jou nal o he Ame ican College o Spo s Medicine APPLIED SCIENCES Downloaded om h p://jou nals.lww.com/acsm-msse by BhDM 5ePHKa 1zEoum1 Q N4a+kJLhEZgbsIHo4XMi0hCyw CX1AWnYQp/IlQ HD3i3D0OdRyi7T SFl4C 3VC1y0abggQZXd wn KZBY ws= on 12/16/2024 may be p esen in ea ly childhood bu disappea as child en g ow up and gain mo e independence, as ound, o example, o body mass index (24). This would equi e la ge samples and p e e ably longi udinal da a o allow in es iga ing how much gene ic ac o s con ibu e o he co ela ions o physical i ness es s o e age, as demons a ed p e iously (36). Twin s udies including s anda dized in e en ions would also be im- po an o analyze he ole o gene ic ac o s in he esponse o in e en ions. The ex ensi e es ing may also ha e nega i ely in luenced he mo o pe o mance o he child en. This does no a ec gene ic co ela ions bu may ha e dec eased unique en i onmen al co ela ions and make some o hem nega i e. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, gene ic ac o s explain a majo pa o he a ia ion in es s om he Eu o i and Fi nessg am es ba e- ies and almos exclusi ely accoun o hei mu ual co ela- ions. Howe e , he gene ic co ela ions be ween he es s mainly a ied om modes o mode a e, which may e lec he mul idimensional s uc u e o physical i ness. Because he gene ic co ela ions a e gene ally no high, he e is no likely o be edundancy in ei he o he Eu o i and Fi nessg am es ba e ies. This is impo an because ex ensi e es ing can nega i ely a ec he alidi y o indi idual es s. The p ojec “Gene ic and en i onmen al in luences on physical ac- i i y, i ness and heal h: he Madei a amily s udy”was suppo ed by FCT—Fundação pa a a Ciência e a Tecnologia (The Po uguese Na- ional Funding Agency o Science, Resea ch and Technology), e e - ence POCI/DES/56834/2004. K. S. and J. K. ha e been suppo ed by he Eu opean Union’s Ho izon Eu ope Resea ch and Inno a ion p o- g amme unde G an Ag eemen numbe 101080117. Views and opin- ions exp essed a e, howe e , hose o he au ho s only and do no nec- essa ily e lec hose o he Eu opean Union. Nei he he Eu opean Union no he g an ing au ho i y can be held esponsible o hem. J. K. acknowledges he suppo o he Cen e o Excellence in Complex Dis- ease Gene ics, Academy o Finland g an no. 336823. E. S. is suppo ed by he Academy o Finland (g an s 341750 and 346509), Juho Vainio Founda ion, and Päi ikki and Saka i Sohlbe g Founda ion. The au ho s decla e no po en ial con lic s o in e es wi h espec o he esea ch, au ho ship, and/o publica ion o his a icle. The esul s o he s udy a e p esen ed clea ly, hones ly, and wi hou ab ica ion, al- si ica ion, o inapp op ia e da a manipula ion. The esul s o he p esen s udy do no cons i u e endo semen by he Ame ican College o Spo s Medicine. Au ho con ibu ions: K. S. and D. F. designed he s udy. K. 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