Cross sectional study of body mass index and physical performance of Punjab state school boys

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out to find out the cross sectional differences among sixth to tenth class Punjab State School Boys belonging to urban and rural areas in Body Mass Index (BMI), physical performance and its components. Total ten thousand boys of sixth to tenth classes studying in the urban and rural government senior secondary schools of all the districts of Punjab were selected. Further one rural and one urban government senior secondary school were selected randomly from each tehsil (sub- division) to get the subjects. Twenty five boys were selected randomly from each class (sixth to tenth), thus comprising 125 boys from each school. The following variables had been selected after consultation with the supervisor, subject experts and through the survey of existing literature. Body Mass Index (BMI), physical performance and its components-speed, muscular endurance of upper extremities, muscular endurance of abdomen muscles, shoulder strength, explosive strength of legs and cardio vascular endurance. After collection of data on Body Mass Index, physical performance and its components of school boys of Punjab state, statistical analysis was carried out. Data analyzed by applying t test to examine the significance of mean differences, if any, between urban and rural school boys on Body Mass Index(BMI) and physical performance. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also computed to find out the cross sectional (classes sixth to tenth) differences in Body Mass Index (BMI), physical performance and its components which followed by Scheffe s Post hoc test, in case of significant F ratios. Level of confidence was set at 0.05. On the basis of the results of the study it was concluded that significant differences were observed in the Body Mass Index (BMI), physical performance and its components between urban and rural school boys of Punjab state schools. Similarly significant differences were also observed between the boys of different classes belonging to urban and rural schools.