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Adolescents with low grip strength at risk for poor health
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Teenagers with low grip strength are significantly more likely to have negative health outcomes compared with strong teenagers at a 2-year follow-up, according to findings published in The Journal of Pediatrics.
“Low strength as measured by grip strength has been linked to premature mortality and multiple morbidities across the life span,” Paul M. Gordon, PhD, professor and chair of health, human performance and recreation at the Baylor University Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, told Infectious Diseases in Children. “Unfortunately, no one really knows what the underlying mechanisms are, and these mechanisms may be different at various stages of life.”
To better understand how grip strength is related to teenagers’ health, Gordon and colleagues examined grip strength among adolescent boys and girls and then re-evaluated their grip strength 2 years later. Additionally, they tracked teenagers’ health over the study period.
The researchers observed that female participants were more physically active on average than boys at both baseline and at the 2-year follow-up, but boys had higher levels of estimated maximal oxygen consumption and normalized grip strength at follow-up. Although the average absolute grip strength for both boys and girls improved throughout the study period, a significant decrease in normalized grip strength was observed among boys.
Gordon and colleagues noted that of the 235 boys included in the study at baseline, 27.9% had low normalized grip strength. Of the 239 girls included at baseline, 20.1% had low normalized grip strength. These participants were more likely to have one or more baseline risk factors for poor health decline — including poor cardiometabolic health — and they either had the same number or more risk factors at follow-up compared with strong teenagers.
“People might think that kids who are more physically active might have a higher grip strength, but we controlled for physical activity level, and we still saw a strong independent relationship with health risk,” Gordon said. “Parents need to realize that kids need muscle strengthening activities as part of their regular physical activity. This could be something as simple as using their body weight in strengthening activities such as push-ups, chin-ups and rock or wall climbing.”
Furthermore, the researchers observed that teens with high grip strength at baseline were more likely to maintain their good health (OR = 3.54; 95% CI, 1.80-6.97) and to improve their health (OR = 1.3; 95% CI, 1.05-1.6) at follow-up.
“A grip strength assessment is a simple test that can be easily conducted in the clinical setting by health care providers,” Gordon said. “Kids with grip strength measures below a designated threshold would allow their physician to rapidly identify at-risk adolescents for early lifestyle intervention that includes muscular fitness activities.” – by Katherine Bortz
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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