Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the predictive value of different measures of physical literacy (PL) on cardiometabolic risk in adolescents with abdominal obesity. Method. A cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study was conducted with a sample of 51 abdominal obesity male adolescents aged 11-15 years. Cardiometabolic risk was estimated using the MetS-score, based on anthropometric, biochemical, and blood pressure data. LASSO regression models were applied to identify the predictive value of PL measures on cardiometabolic risk outcomes. Results. The study findings showed that the physical dimension of PL has measures that moderately predict (f2 = 0.17), 14.5% of the variance in cardiometabolic risk through the MetS-score. In addition, PL measures were selected to explain other components of cardiometabolic risk, with a large effect on waist circumference and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (f2 = 3.379; f2 = 0.771; f2 = 0.472, respectively). Conclusion. The results of this study show that the physical dimension of PL can predict MetS-scores in abdominal obesity adolescents. Furthermore, it was identified that the psychological and cognitive dimensions of PL, although they do not directly predict the MetS-score, play a relevant protective role in blood pressure and, to a lesser extent, in waist circumference.