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An investigation into the correlations between physical activity and physical fitness in a Singapore secondary school
Author
Chan, Paul Yin Kong
Supervisor
Soong, Paul
Abstract
There have been many studies of Singapore on the relationship between physical activity and physical fitness or health-related outcomes. Despite this, researchers are still not certain about two matters: firstly, the prevalence of physical activity among children and adolescents; secondly, the association between physical activity and physical fitness. Researchers blamed it on the prolific number of methods to assess or define physical activity and the children's developmental stage which might confound the activity-fitness association. In Singapore, there is a lack of such studies in the first place. This particular study sought to fill a research gap in this area of physical activity and physical fitness as measured by the various test items in the local National Physical Fitness Award (NAPFA) battery.
This is a correlational study which identified physical activity as the independent variable and physical fitness as the dependent variable. It sought to investigate the relationships between them and checking for the effects of other intervening variables in the activity-fitness correlations. Existing research suggested that physical activity could explain (at least in part) the fitness level of adolescents (Bouchard et al., 1983; Cunningham et al., 1984; Ross and Gilbert, 1985; Dennison et al., 1988; Aaron et al., 1993). More specifically, this study sought to:
i. ascertain the extent to which 11 to 18 years old pupils in a secondary school in Singapore perceived themselves as physically active.
ii. probe the correlations between the pupils' self-reported physical activity level and their physical fitness as assessed by their performance in the NAPFA tests.
iii. examine the patterns of physical activity before and after school with a view to understand the type and frequency of the pupils' favourite leisure-time activities and whether their choice of sport or non-sport leisure was related to their NAPFA test scores.
The results of the survey (n = 745) revealed that 47% of the pupils reported to be in the light category for habitual physical activity which was operationally defined as being occasionally involved in recreational activities such as weekend tennis, jogging, swimming or cycling. Together with those who said they were either inactive (3.4%) or relatively inactive (14.2%), some 64% of the pupils would be considered as failing to achieve the appropriate level of physical activity necessary for health-related fitness (Simons-Morton et al., 1987; ACSM, 1988; Armstrong and McManus, 1994). Significant relationships were found between habitual physical activity and gender, age/academic level, participation in ECA and competitive sports (p < .05). No correlations were found between habitual physical activity and BMI or electronic leisure time.
The habitual physical activity level of the pupils were found to be significantly related to their overall fitness test performance as indicated by the NAPFA awards they received (p < .05). The overall NAPFA performance of the pupils was also found to be related to their academic stream (p < .05) and frequency of recent hard exercise done (p < .05) but not light exercise (p > .05). In addition, significant correlations were found between the habitual physical activity reported by the pupils and their test performance in certain NAPFA components: 2.4 km walk/run (p < .05) and standing broad jump (P < .05). However, no correlations were found between habitual physical activity and the other NAPFA test components: sit-and-reach, sit-ups, pull-ups and inclined flexed-arm hang (P > .05).
The activity-aerobic fitness correlation was validation by another field test using the multi-stage 20-metre shuttle run tests conducted on a sub-sample of 367 lower secondary pupils from the same school. Significant correlations were found between the reported habitual physical activity and the VO2 max (p < .05). The pupils' VO2 max also correlated significantly with their gender (p < .05).
The majority of the pupils in this study preferred sedentary non-sport to sport activities in their leisure time and they were usually done a few times per week after school. The most popular favourite activities were reportedly very sedentary in nature: reading, listening to music and watching TV/video. Nevertheless, no significant associations were found between the type of favourite leisure activities the pupils preferred and their overall NAPFA test performance (p > .05).
This is a correlational study which identified physical activity as the independent variable and physical fitness as the dependent variable. It sought to investigate the relationships between them and checking for the effects of other intervening variables in the activity-fitness correlations. Existing research suggested that physical activity could explain (at least in part) the fitness level of adolescents (Bouchard et al., 1983; Cunningham et al., 1984; Ross and Gilbert, 1985; Dennison et al., 1988; Aaron et al., 1993). More specifically, this study sought to:
i. ascertain the extent to which 11 to 18 years old pupils in a secondary school in Singapore perceived themselves as physically active.
ii. probe the correlations between the pupils' self-reported physical activity level and their physical fitness as assessed by their performance in the NAPFA tests.
iii. examine the patterns of physical activity before and after school with a view to understand the type and frequency of the pupils' favourite leisure-time activities and whether their choice of sport or non-sport leisure was related to their NAPFA test scores.
The results of the survey (n = 745) revealed that 47% of the pupils reported to be in the light category for habitual physical activity which was operationally defined as being occasionally involved in recreational activities such as weekend tennis, jogging, swimming or cycling. Together with those who said they were either inactive (3.4%) or relatively inactive (14.2%), some 64% of the pupils would be considered as failing to achieve the appropriate level of physical activity necessary for health-related fitness (Simons-Morton et al., 1987; ACSM, 1988; Armstrong and McManus, 1994). Significant relationships were found between habitual physical activity and gender, age/academic level, participation in ECA and competitive sports (p < .05). No correlations were found between habitual physical activity and BMI or electronic leisure time.
The habitual physical activity level of the pupils were found to be significantly related to their overall fitness test performance as indicated by the NAPFA awards they received (p < .05). The overall NAPFA performance of the pupils was also found to be related to their academic stream (p < .05) and frequency of recent hard exercise done (p < .05) but not light exercise (p > .05). In addition, significant correlations were found between the habitual physical activity reported by the pupils and their test performance in certain NAPFA components: 2.4 km walk/run (p < .05) and standing broad jump (P < .05). However, no correlations were found between habitual physical activity and the other NAPFA test components: sit-and-reach, sit-ups, pull-ups and inclined flexed-arm hang (P > .05).
The activity-aerobic fitness correlation was validation by another field test using the multi-stage 20-metre shuttle run tests conducted on a sub-sample of 367 lower secondary pupils from the same school. Significant correlations were found between the reported habitual physical activity and the VO2 max (p < .05). The pupils' VO2 max also correlated significantly with their gender (p < .05).
The majority of the pupils in this study preferred sedentary non-sport to sport activities in their leisure time and they were usually done a few times per week after school. The most popular favourite activities were reportedly very sedentary in nature: reading, listening to music and watching TV/video. Nevertheless, no significant associations were found between the type of favourite leisure activities the pupils preferred and their overall NAPFA test performance (p > .05).
Date Issued
1998
Call Number
GV481 Cha
Date Submitted
1998