Obesity, physical inactivity, and cardiorespiratory fitness of high school students in Urban Ludhiana, North West India: A survey

Abstract

Context: The level of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) among the early adolescent would provide a measure of future burden of cardiovascular disease in Ludhiana, North West India. Aims: The aim was to estimate the level of CRF with the help of multi-stage-fitness (Bleep) test in high school students. Settings and Design: Cross sectional study in urban Ludhiana. Subjects and Methods: Totally, 200 school children were selected by simple random sampling from four schools. After the consent, a pretested questionnaire was administered, and the Bleep test performed. Statistical Analysis Used: Frequencies and proportions were calculated, Chi-square and t-test were the tests of significance. Results: The prevalence of obesity was 2.5%, overweight, severe thinness, and thin was15.5%, 1.5%, and 5%, respectively. There were more extreme weights among boys compared to girls (Chi-square = 7.59 and P = 0.022). The mean hours of weekly vigorous sports activity was 2.14 ± 0.63. The mean maximum aerobic capacity was 26.80 ± 4.37. CRF scores of very poor in 72.0% with only 7.05% scoring as Fair. More boys (93.8%) had very poor CRF scores compared to girls (43.7%). Score of Fair CRF in 16.0% girls and 0.9% boy. Conclusions: The high school children in urban Ludhiana, Northwest India exhibit high levels of physical inactivity, worsening obesity, and low levels of CRF, boys are more affected compared to girls. The bleep test is a low-cost and feasible quantitative tool to measure cardio respiratory fitness in limited resource setting.

Keywords

• Adolescent
• cardiorespiratory fitness
• high school children
• multi-stage fitness