*2.3. Sample Description*

As mentioned above, all data were from one community in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, which participated over the entire study period. Overall, 999 primary school children between the ages of 7 to 9 years (MV ± SD: age: 7.98 ± 0.82; weight: 29.0 ± 6.9 kg; height: 132.8 ± 7.5 cm) were included in the analysis. Among them, 55.6% (*n* = 555) were boys and 44.4% (*n* = 444) were girls. In the analysis, cohorts were compared to examine the effects and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical fitness levels. The different cohorts from the period between 2012 and 2019 were combined and considered representative of the physical fitness of children in the community before COVID-19. This cohort, called PreCOVID, comprised 801 children (MV ± SD: age: 7.97 ± 0.82; weight: 28.8 ± 7.0 kg; height: 132.7 ± 7.4 cm). The cohort from 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, called COVID1, included 91 children in the analysis (MV ± SD: age: 7.93 ± 0.87; weight: 28.9 ± 5.7 kg; height: 132.7 ± 7.8 cm). The cohort from 2021 (COVID2) included 107 children (MV ± SD: age: 8.08 ± 0.77; weight: 30.2 ± 7.1 kg; height: 133.4 ± 8.1 cm). The exact number of children according to cohort and gender is shown in Table 2.

**Table 2.** Distribution of the sample.

