Comparison of cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index between rural and urban youth: Findings from the East of England Healthy Hearts Study

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p><jats:bold>Background: </jats:bold> The aim of the present study was to determine if there were differences in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and body mass index (BMI) in rural versus urban youth.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods: </jats:bold> We measured BMI in 6628 10.0–15.9‐year‐olds and classified them as normal weight, overweight or obese. CRF was assessed with a 20‐m shuttle‐run test and subjects were classified as unfit, fit or highly fit. Rural or urban dwelling was calculated from postcodes.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results: </jats:bold> There were no differences in frequency of BMI categories or CRF between rural and urban children (&lt;13 years) or adolescents (&gt;13 years). Rural adolescents were less likely to be fit (OR = 0.80; 95%CI 0.67–0.96) or highly fit (OR = 0.69; 95%CI 0.55–0.86) independent of their age, sex, race or level of deprivation.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Conclusions: </jats:bold> Whilst there were no differences evident in children &lt;13 years, rural adolescents were significantly less likely to meet criterion‐based cut‐off points for CRF. Research to elucidate why such differences exist is warranted.</jats:p>