Tomkinson et al. (FitBack)

Full name: European fitness landscape for children and adolescents: updated reference values, fitness maps and country rankings based on nearly 8 million test results from 34 countries gathered by the FitBack network
Year: 2023
Sample size: n = 1.3M
Population: European children and adolescents aged 6-18 from 34 countries, population-weighted normative values derived from 106 datasets
Study type: Cross-sectional normative study
Link: DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2022-106176

About this reference

The FitBack network pooled 7,966,693 fitness test results across 34 European countries. Standing long jump data comprised 1,345,159 performances from children and adolescents aged 6-18. Percentile curves were fitted using generalised additive models for location, scale and shape (GAMLSS), with population-weighting applied to ensure fair representation across nations. FitBack updates Tomkinson et al. 2018 (30 countries) with broader country coverage and population-weighted percentile tables.

Known limitations

Based on European youth only, may not generalise to non-European populations or to adults
No data available for adults aged 19 and above
Population-weighted GAMLSS smoothing may mask country-level variation in performance
Standing long jump protocol can vary slightly between national Eurofit implementations (e.g. arm swing rules, surface type), though Eurofit standardisation minimises this

Used for

Standing Broad Jump