Background:

The components of physical fitness are important as indicators of health in school children. The main objective of this study was to analyze the differences in the components of fitness among school children overweight /obese and normal.

Methods:

491 schoolchildren participated, from the city of Chihuahua, Mexico. Components of physical condition, anthropometric variables and blood pressure were measured. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance and frequency measurements were performed, including only the students who performed all the tests.

Results:

45% (n = 205) of the sample were girls and 55% (n = 251) were boys. The mean age in girls was 8.8 ± 1.8 years, and in boys 8.9 ± 1.9 years. 39% of schoolchildren were overweight or obese. Waist circumference shows 15.6% of school children with a percentile ≥90, and regarding blood pressure about 13.1% of the children are classified with some form of hypertension. Schoolchildren with normal weight show greater flexibility (0.007) *, more repetitions in the arm flexions (0,000)* and abdominal pushups (0,000)*, and less time in the speed test (0.008)* when compared to schoolchildren with obesity.

Conclusions:

In the present study, we observed that schoolchildren with overweight and obesity have a significantly lower performance in physical tests. So, the different aspects of physical condition evaluated can serve as immediate indicators of potential health risks for overweight children.