Mohamed, Nazirah Gulam
(2009)
Selected health related fitness in
female undergraduate students.
Project Report.
Pusat Pengajian Sains Kesihatan, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
(Submitted)
Abstract
To describe and compare the health-related physical fitness of young
females based on body mass index (BMI) classifications. Anthropometric indices, including height, weight, waist and hip
circumferences were assessed in a cross-sectional study of35 healthy female undergraduate
students aged 20-22 years. Blood pressure was measured using a sphygmomanometer,
while cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) was estimated using the 20m multi-stage fitness test. The BMI of the students was classified according to cut-off points for Asians
and two groups were identified: underweight (n= 10) and normal weight (n= 25). Between
the BMI groups, weight (p = 0.001, eta2 = 0.297), percent body fat (p < 0.001, eta2 =
0.442), waist girth (p = 0.004, eta2 = 0.225), hip circumference (p = 0.006, eta2 = 0.208),
and maximum heart rate (p = 0.001, eta2 = 0.301) were significantly different. However,
there was no difference in height (p = 0.390, eta2 = 0.022), waist-to-hip ratio (p = 0.225,
eta2 = 0.044) and aerobic fitness (p = 0.348, eta2 = 0.027). Both underweight and normal weight groups had a higher percent body
fat and lower V02 peak than the recommended levels. These results support and extend
previous studies that Asians have a higher body fat percentage at the same BMI level as
Caucasians.
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