Abstract
The objective of the present research was to determine whether aerobic capacity of fourteen-year-old girls is higher than that of ten-year-old girls. The research aimed to establish if the level of cardio respiratory fitness in girls decreases with age, and if their overall physical activity also decreases. A low level of cardio respiratory fitness from an early age has been confirmed in a number of studies, and it has been highly correlated with a sedentary lifestyle. Research participants were 94 fourth and eighth grade primary school girls. The variables were anthropometric measures for body height, body weight, waist circumference, and hips circumference. All the measurements were done in accordance with the International Biological Program (IBP). Body fat percentage (BF%) was also measured with the Omron (Type BF511, Japan). A multistage 20m shuttle run test was used to obtain the values for aerobic capacity, and PAQ-C questionnaire was used to estimate the level of physical activity. The results indicate that only 5% of female students meet the recommendations for physical activity while 83% engage in moderate physical activity. Statistically significant differences were determined for the variables used to estimate the aerobic capacity, with ten-year-old girls (p=0.00) having better aerobic capacity than the fourteen-year-old girls. Furthermore, ten-year-old girls were found to be significantly more physically active (p=0.00). The results of the correlation test between the aerobic capacity (VO2 max) and the overall physical activity (PA) indicate significant positive correlation (r = 0.42; p = 0.00). Girls who do not engage in physical activity at least for the recommended 60 minutes need to be directed towards various forms of healthy lifestyle with a special emphasis on everyday physical exercise that may increase their aerobic capacity.
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