EFFECT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ON ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS AND FLEXIBILITY AMONG COLLEGE GOING GIRLS

Abstract

Concern for the health-related phys­ical fitness of college going students has recently increased because of the current obesity epidemic. Therefore , the study designed to assess pre and post exposure height, weight, BMI (anthropometric) and flexibility (motor performance) characteristics among college going girls. An intervention package comprising sessions on physical education and physical activity was designed for the study participants. Participants were undergraduate college going girls (N=96) attending physical education class of one hour for one semester lasting for three months. Height, weight and BMI were noted. Flexibility test was used to test the flexibility of the lower back and hamstring muscles. Pre- and post-intervention changes in parameters were assessed using the paired ‘t’ test. The hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings exhibited significant differences between the pretest and post test scores with regard to the variables namely height, weight, BMI and flexibility. We conclude that the experimental group showed significant effect of physical education and physical activity on height, weight, BMI and physical flexibility. The study suggests a strong need for more active physical education programs that are appropriate for developing the fitness and improving the health status of college going students, especially females. Article visualizations: