Comparison of physical fitness levels and body mass index in students from 5th to 9th grade in Physical Education classes depending on urban or rural residence place

• Autor(a) principal: Costa, Aldo
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Resende, Ana, Honório, Samuel, O'Hara, Kelly, Martins, Júlio, Vicente, António
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.11/6408
• topic: Physical fitness; BMI; Children; Adolescents; Physical Education; Rural; Urban

Introduction: The main purpose of this study was to have a comparison of the physical fitness levels and body mass index of students with urban and rural residence from an elementary school in Portugal. Methods: The sample covered 270 students, 142 male and 128 female, aged between 9 and 16, from the 5th to the 9th grade. The Fitnessgram test battery (NES, 2002) measured the physical fitness, the body mass index was based on the reference values from the World Health Organization (1995) and the students' characterization was assessed through the biographical archives given by the school. Results: The test results only demonstrated significant differences (p <0.05) amongst these students: Females in the 5th and 6th grade in the following tests, trunk extension with better results in students with rural residence and middle strenght with better results in students with urban residence; Males in the 5th and 6th grade in the following tests: the shuttle run with better results in students with rural residence; Females between 7th and 9th grade in the following tests: trunk extension with better results in students with urban residence. Conclusions: Significant differences were not observed between the levels of physical fitness and BMI related to the place of residence (rural and urban).