Relationship between Body Mass Index and Physical Fitness among Medical Students of Gujarat, India

Introduction: Body Mass Index (BMI) is commonly used as a marker for adiposity. Physical fitness refers to a series of physical characteristics that are directly related to the ability of an individual to perform physical activity or exercise. Physical fitness tests measure the efficiency of muscula...

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Main Authors: Shaily Parekh, Neha Mukkamala, Lata Parmar, Purva Patel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited 2022-07-01
Series:Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.jcdr.net/articles/PDF/16628/53223_CE_[Nik]_F(KR)_PF1(SC_SHU)_PFA(SC_KM)_PN(KM).pdf
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author Shaily Parekh
Neha Mukkamala
Lata Parmar
Purva Patel
author_facet Shaily Parekh
Neha Mukkamala
Lata Parmar
Purva Patel
author_sort Shaily Parekh
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Body Mass Index (BMI) is commonly used as a marker for adiposity. Physical fitness refers to a series of physical characteristics that are directly related to the ability of an individual to perform physical activity or exercise. Physical fitness tests measure the efficiency of muscular and cardiovascular systems. Aim: To assess the relationship between BMI and physical fitness in college students of a medical university at Gujarat, India. Materials and Methods: This was an observational study, conducted in the Department of Physiotherapy at Sumandeep Vidyapeeth, India. The study was conducted from September 2019 to January 2020 and included 180 participants of which 105 were females and 75 were males aged between 18 to 30 years. Height and weight were measured and physical fitness tests i.e. push-up test for upper body strength, sit-up test for abdominal strength, queens college step test for cardiorespiratory endurance were performed. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test of normality showed the data to be normally distributed. Association between variables was seen using Chi-square test and correlation was found using Pearson’s coefficient. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Out of total 180 students, 26.1% people were underweight and 32.2% were of normal weight. The mean age of the participants was 19.7±1.99 years and mean BMI was 21.9±5.14 kg/m2. There was no statistically significant association between BMI and abdominal strength (p-value=0.64), BMI and upper body strength (p-value=0.75) and BMI and cardiorespiratory endurance (p-value=0.47). Males performed better than females in all the tests although it was statistically significant (p-value=0.001) only for the sit-up test and not for push-up test (p-value=0.16) and queens college step test (p-value=0.47). Conclusion: Performances on fitness tests varied with weight status. Higher BMI was generally associated with lower physical fitness. There is a great need to organise fitness programme in colleges on large scale to overcome the health problems in young age.
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spelling doaj.art-8df4207a89f14adcb6272c1250b02ee22023-01-27T06:27:37ZengJCDR Research and Publications Private LimitedJournal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research2249-782X0973-709X2022-07-01167YC09YC1410.7860/JCDR/2022/53223.16628Relationship between Body Mass Index and Physical Fitness among Medical Students of Gujarat, IndiaShaily Parekh0Neha Mukkamala1Lata Parmar2Purva Patel3Former Postgraduate Student, Department of Physiotherapy, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University, Vadodara, Gujarat, India.Associate Professor, Department of Physiotherapy, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University, Vadodara, Gujarat, India.Former Professor and Principal, Department of Physiotherapy, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University, Vadodara, Gujarat, India.Postgraduate Student, Department of Physiotherapy, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University, Vadodara, Gujarat, India.Introduction: Body Mass Index (BMI) is commonly used as a marker for adiposity. Physical fitness refers to a series of physical characteristics that are directly related to the ability of an individual to perform physical activity or exercise. Physical fitness tests measure the efficiency of muscular and cardiovascular systems. Aim: To assess the relationship between BMI and physical fitness in college students of a medical university at Gujarat, India. Materials and Methods: This was an observational study, conducted in the Department of Physiotherapy at Sumandeep Vidyapeeth, India. The study was conducted from September 2019 to January 2020 and included 180 participants of which 105 were females and 75 were males aged between 18 to 30 years. Height and weight were measured and physical fitness tests i.e. push-up test for upper body strength, sit-up test for abdominal strength, queens college step test for cardiorespiratory endurance were performed. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test of normality showed the data to be normally distributed. Association between variables was seen using Chi-square test and correlation was found using Pearson’s coefficient. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Out of total 180 students, 26.1% people were underweight and 32.2% were of normal weight. The mean age of the participants was 19.7±1.99 years and mean BMI was 21.9±5.14 kg/m2. There was no statistically significant association between BMI and abdominal strength (p-value=0.64), BMI and upper body strength (p-value=0.75) and BMI and cardiorespiratory endurance (p-value=0.47). Males performed better than females in all the tests although it was statistically significant (p-value=0.001) only for the sit-up test and not for push-up test (p-value=0.16) and queens college step test (p-value=0.47). Conclusion: Performances on fitness tests varied with weight status. Higher BMI was generally associated with lower physical fitness. There is a great need to organise fitness programme in colleges on large scale to overcome the health problems in young age.https://www.jcdr.net/articles/PDF/16628/53223_CE_[Nik]_F(KR)_PF1(SC_SHU)_PFA(SC_KM)_PN(KM).pdfabdominal strengthcardiorespiratory enduranceupper body strength
spellingShingle Shaily Parekh
Neha Mukkamala
Lata Parmar
Purva Patel
Relationship between Body Mass Index and Physical Fitness among Medical Students of Gujarat, India
Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research
abdominal strength
cardiorespiratory endurance
upper body strength
title Relationship between Body Mass Index and Physical Fitness among Medical Students of Gujarat, India
title_full Relationship between Body Mass Index and Physical Fitness among Medical Students of Gujarat, India
title_fullStr Relationship between Body Mass Index and Physical Fitness among Medical Students of Gujarat, India
title_full_unstemmed Relationship between Body Mass Index and Physical Fitness among Medical Students of Gujarat, India
title_short Relationship between Body Mass Index and Physical Fitness among Medical Students of Gujarat, India
title_sort relationship between body mass index and physical fitness among medical students of gujarat india
topic abdominal strength
cardiorespiratory endurance
upper body strength
url https://www.jcdr.net/articles/PDF/16628/53223_CE_[Nik]_F(KR)_PF1(SC_SHU)_PFA(SC_KM)_PN(KM).pdf
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