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A Systematic Analysis of Temporal Trends in the Handgrip Strength of 2,216,320 Children and Adolescents Between 1967 and 2017

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Abstract

Objective

To estimate national and international temporal trends in handgrip strength for children and adolescents, and to examine relationships between trends in handgrip strength and trends in health-related and sociodemographic indicators.

Methods

Data were obtained through a systematic search of studies reporting temporal trends in the handgrip strength for apparently healthy 9–17-year-olds, and by examining large national fitness datasets. Temporal trends at the country–sex–age level were estimated by sample-weighted regression models relating the year of testing to mean handgrip strength. International and national trends were estimated by a post-stratified population-weighting procedure. Pearson’s correlations quantified relationships between national trends in handgrip strength and national trends in health-related/sociodemographic indicators.

Results

2,216,320 children and adolescents from 13 high-, 5 upper-middle-, and 1 low-income countries/special administrative regions between 1967 and 2017 collectively showed a moderate improvement of 19.4% (95% CI 18.4–20.4) or 3.8% per decade (95% CI 3.6–4.0). The international rate of improvement progressively increased over time, with more recent values (post-2000) close to two times larger than those from the 1960s/1970s. Improvements were larger for children (9–12 years) compared to adolescents (13–17 years), and similar for boys and girls. Trends differed between countries, with relationships between national trends in handgrip strength and national trends in health-related/sociodemographic indicators negligible-to-weak and not statistically significant.

Conclusions

There has been a substantial improvement in absolute handgrip strength for children and adolescents since 1967. There is a need for improved international surveillance of handgrip strength, especially in low- and middle-income countries, to more confidently determine true international trends.

PROSPERO Registration Number

CRD42013003657.

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Data Availability Statement

The datasets analyzed in this review are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the authors of the included studies for generously clarifying details of their studies and/or for providing additional data. We would also like to thank Dr. Yang Liu, Dr. Tetsuhiro Kidokoro, Dr. Shingo Noi, Dr. Duncan Macfarlane, and Dr. Koya Suzuki for their assistance with the national fitness data from China, Hong Kong, and Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Health and Behavior Studies, University of North Dakota, 2751 2nd Avenue North, Stop 8235, Grand Forks, ND, 58202, USA

    Faith L. Dooley, Tori Kaster, John S. Fitzgerald, Tanis J. Walch & Grant R. Tomkinson

  2. Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Madison Annandale, Katia Ferrar & Grant R. Tomkinson

  3. Centre for Surveillance and Applied Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Justin J. Lang

  4. Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Justin J. Lang

  5. Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition, School of Education, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia

    Jordan J. Smith

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  1. Faith L. Dooley
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  7. Justin J. Lang
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Contributions

GRT and FLD developed the research question and designed the study. GRT and FLD had full access to all the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data. GRT and FLD led the statistical analysis, synthesis of results, and writing of the report. All authors contributed to the interpretation of results, editing and critical reviewing of the final report, and approved the final report.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Grant R. Tomkinson.

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Funding

No funding was received for this project.

Conflict of interest

Faith L. Dooley, Tori Kaster, John S. Fitzgerald, Tanis J. Walch, Madison Annandale, Katia Ferrar, Justin J. Lang, Jordan J. Smith, and Grant R. Tomkinson declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Dooley, F.L., Kaster, T., Fitzgerald, J.S. et al. A Systematic Analysis of Temporal Trends in the Handgrip Strength of 2,216,320 Children and Adolescents Between 1967 and 2017. Sports Med 50, 1129–1144 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01265-0

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