Publication Name	World Journal of Clinical Pediatrics
Manuscript ID	114903
Country	Nigeria

Category	Sport Sciences
Manuscript Type	Observational Study
Article Title	Cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index of Nigerian youth: A FitnessGram-based assessment
Manuscript Source	Invited Manuscript
All Author List	Danladi Ibrahim Musa, Andrew A Tyoakaa, Tavershima Kparev and Gregory J Welk
Funding Agency and Grant Number
Corresponding Author	Danladi Ibrahim Musa, PhD, Professor, Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, Prince Abubakar Audu University, Faculty of Education, Anyigba 272102, Kogi, Nigeria. dimusa55@gmail.com
Key Words	Exercise; Fitness testing; Nigerian youth; Physical fitness; Public health
Core Tip	This study assessed the proportion of Nigerian youth who met the FitnessGram criterion-referenced health standards for aerobic capacity (AC) and body composition (BC). Achievement rates for AC were 82.7% among males and 78.7% among females. For BC, both sexes showed high success rates - 96.1% for males and 96.0% for females. Compared with their American and European counterparts, Nigerian youth performed better on both health indicators. However, disparities were observed in AC, with older males and adolescent females more likely to fall short of the standards. Regular participation in aerobic physical activity is recommended to reduce future cardiovascular disease risk.
Citation	Musa DI, Tyoakaa AA, Kparev T, Welk GJ. Cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index of Nigerian youth: A FitnessGram-based assessment. World J Clin Pediatr 2026; In press

Received	2025-10-10 15:35
Peer-Review Started	2025-10-10 15:35
First Decision by Editorial Office Director	2025-10-27 09:24
Return for Revision	2025-10-27 09:24
Revised	2025-11-07 17:10
Publication Fee Transferred
Second Decision by Editor	2026-01-27 02:40
Second Decision by Editor-in-Chief
Final Decision by Editorial Office Director	2026-01-27 07:31
Articles in Press	2026-01-27 07:31
Edit the Manuscript by Language Editor
Typeset the Manuscript

ISSN	2219-2808 (online)
Open Access	This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Copyright	© The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Permissions	For details, please visit: http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/gerinfo/207
Publisher	Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
Website	http://www.wjgnet.com