A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HEALTH-RELATED PHYSICAL FITNESS OF SCHOOL CHILDREN IN HONG KONG AND MAINLAND CHINA

Abstract

649 The purposes of this study were to compare the health-related physical fitness of school children in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Data for the children in Mainland China were taken from the national survey in 1985 in Guandong, a south China province adjacent to Hong Kong. Data for the children in Hong Kong were provided by an investigation jointly conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Michigan in 1982. Six testing items which were identically employed by the both sides for the male and female school children, aged from 9 to 18, were selected for comparison. Results showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in body height. However, the average body weight of boys in Hong Kong were significantly (P<.05) heavier than that of their counterparts in Mainland China in all age groups except ages 10, 15 and 18. The same pattern of heavier body weight in Hong Kong children were also found in girls of 9 to 14 year old. The children in Mainland China possessed significant better scores(p<.01) in endurance run (1000 meter run for boys, 800m run for girls, both aged 13 years and above), 50 meter dash and 60 seconds sit-ups than that of boys and girls in Hong Kong except in the sit-ups scores obtained by the boys aged 13 of both sides. In standing long jump, however, no consistent trend of superiority was found on one sample group over the other for both boys and girls. Comparisons indicated that cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular speed power, and muscular strength and endurance of Hong Kong school children were not as good as their counterparts in Mainland China. These differences may be attributed to a number of reasons indicating the differences between the two regions. Previous studies showed that the food for Hong Kong children contains less carbohydrate and vegetable, but more meat and fat. The Children in Hong Kong were more sedentary than their counterparts in Mainland China. However, to what extent that the level of physical activity was associated with the differences in fitness needs to be further studied.