Purpose:
To determine the prevalence of the presence of concomitant low health-related physical fitness components with sociodemographic factors among Brazilian adolescents living in a small town of German colonization.

Methods:
A cross-sectional epidemiological study on adolescents (10 to 17 years old) from the public schools of São Bonifácio, Santa Catarina, Brazil (N = 277) was conducted. The FITNESSGRAM test battery was applied to assess three physical fitness components (body composition, cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness). Data on age (split into two age groups of 10–12 and 13–17 years), gender (male/female), area of residence (rural/urban) and socioeconomic status (low/high) were collected by a questionnaire. Maturity, determined by pubic hair development, was self-assessed. The analyzed physical fitness components were analyzed in terms of the groups of three possible combinations that featured two physical fitness components concomitantly. Adjusted binary and multinomial logistic regression was applied, adopting a confidence level of 95%.

Results:
75.4% of boys and 88.5% of girls showed unsatisfactory levels for health in at least one physical fitness component. Girls living in rural areas were more likely to have combinations of excess body fat with low muscular fitness (OR = 5.06, 95% CI [1.31, 19.61]), low muscular fitness with low cardiorespiratory fitness (OR = 5.46, 95% CI [1.24, 23.94]) and feature two (OR = 8.82, 95% CI [1.60, 48.49]) low values of the components regardless of which combination. Boys aged 10–12 years were less exposed to lower fitness levels compared to those with satisfactory levels (OR = 0.09, 95% CI [0.01, 0.61]).

Conclusions:
More effective measures aimed at promoting physical fitness among adolescents are needed, where special attention should be given to boys aged 10–12 years and girls aged 13–17 years and living in rural areas.