Physical Fitness of College Students in South Africa, United States of America, and England

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Abstract The Harvard step test was performed by male students of physical education and male sophomores not specializing in physical education in Cape Province (South Africa), North Carolina, and England. A modified Harvard step test was performed by corresponding groups of women. Assessed by this test, the fittest male physical education students were the English, and the South Africans were fitter than the Americans. English female students of physical education were not significantly fitter than South Africans but were fitter than Americans. The fittest sophomores (men and women) were the English. There was no significant difference in performance between American and South African sophomores. No correlation was found between fitness index and height, weight, or time devoted to organized physical training. Menstruation did not impair the performance of women students. The rapid method of calculating fitness index gave results almost identical with those obtained from the original, longer method.