Gomwe Howard, Phiri Lesego, Marange Chioneso S
Skills Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa.
Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science, University of Fort Hare, East London, South Africa.
Health SA. 2024 Aug 21;29:2611. doi: 10.4102/hsag.v29i0.2611. eCollection 2024.
Low levels of physical activity in high- to low-income countries, including South Africa, pose a great risk of cardiovascular-related diseases.
This study aimed to assess and compare the physical fitness profile among children.
The study setting comprised rural and urban primary school learners in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa.
A cross-sectional study was adopted utilising a randomly selected sample of boys and girls aged 9-14 years. Physical fitness measures were assessed using the Euro-fit test battery. Some parametric tests were used for mean comparisons of the various anthropometric measurements and physical fitness characteristics across demographics.
The sample consisted of 870 primary school learners. The average weight and height of the sample were 39.29 ± 10.34 kg and 144.06 ± 10.81 cm, respectively, with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 18.80 ± 4.11 kg/m. The results showed that boys reported significantly high levels of physical fitness. Sit-ups ( ≤ 0.001) and VO2 max ( ≤ 0.001) significantly increase with age, while all the physical fitness measures were significantly higher among rural-based learners.
Rural-based learners and boys generally had better physical fitness performance than their peers. The effect of gender and place of residence should be considered when designing physical fitness interventions.
This study adds to the existing body of knowledge about the effect of demographic factors on the physical fitness profile of children, where boys and rural-based learners are reported to be more physically fit than their counterparts.
在包括南非在内的高收入至低收入国家，身体活动水平较低会带来心血管相关疾病的巨大风险。
本研究旨在评估和比较儿童的身体素质状况。
研究地点包括南非东开普省的农村和城市小学学习者。
采用横断面研究，随机抽取9至14岁的男孩和女孩作为样本。使用欧洲适应性测试组合评估身体素质指标。一些参数检验用于比较不同人口统计学特征的各种人体测量指标和身体素质特征的均值。
样本包括870名小学学习者。样本的平均体重和身高分别为39.29±10.34千克和144.06±10.81厘米，平均体重指数（BMI）为18.80±4.11千克/平方米。结果显示，男孩的身体素质水平显著较高。仰卧起坐（≤0.001）和最大摄氧量（≤0.001）随年龄显著增加，而所有身体素质指标在农村学习者中显著更高。
农村学习者和男孩的身体素质表现总体上优于同龄人。在设计身体素质干预措施时应考虑性别和居住地点的影响。
本研究为现有的关于人口统计学因素对儿童身体素质状况影响的知识体系增添了内容，其中报告称男孩和农村学习者比同龄人身体素质更好。
