Original Research Article
Year: 2018 | Month: October | Volume: 8 | Issue: 10 | Pages: 101-107
Correlation between BMI Percentile and Physical Activity among School Children between 11 and 14 Years of Age: A Cross Sectional Study
J Andrews Milton1, Dr. A Turin Martina2
1Professor, Bethany Navajeevan College of Physiotherapy, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
2Associate Professor, PG & Research Department of Rehabilitation Science, Holy Cross College, Tiruchirappalli
Corresponding Author: J Andrews Milton
ABSTRACT
Background: Childhood obesity is the major problem faced by our country due to urbanization. Childhood obesity leads to major disabilities in the adulthood
Objective: The objective of the study is to find out the association between BMI percentile and physical activity among the school going children between 11 and 14 years of age
Materials and methods: 100 school children from the schools in Thiruvananthapuram city were included in the study using purposive sampling method. Healthy school students both boys and girls between 11 and 14 years were included in the study. There were 50 boys and 50 girls. BMI percentile has been calculated for all the students. Modified Physical Activity Questionnaire was the outcome measure. The school children were asked to fill in the modified physical activity questionnaire. The modified physical activity questionnaire consists of four components, i.e., Physical activity during the past 7 days, during physical education classes, during lunch and right after the school. The scoring ranges from 1 to 5 where 1 represents minimal or no physical activity and 5 represents maximal physical activity.
Result: The result was analyzed using SPSS software version 24. The pearson correlation value for physical activity during the past seven days was -.860, physical activity during physical education classes was -.774, during lunch was -.761 and right after the school was -.808 and the p value was 0.000 which shows that there is a significant correlation at 0.01 level between BMI percentile and physical activity score. Also the value shows that the correlation is negative, i.e., as the physical activity decreases the BMI increases and vice versa.
Conclusion: The study concludes that lack of physical activity is the main contributing factor for the increase in BMI percentile and thus obesity.
Key words: Physical Activity, Childhood Obesity, Body Mass Index percentile