Correlation between Anthropometrical and Health-Related physical fitness components for 7- to 10-Year-Old Rural and Urban boys in the Eastern Cape province

Abstract

Overweight and obesity that is increasing among South African pre-adolescent boys can be attributed to lack of physical fitness, thus suggesting that correlation exists between anthropometrical and health-related physical fitness components. This correlation is still under researched in the Eastern Cape Province. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between anthropometrical and health-related physical fitness components among 7- to 10-year-old rural and urban boys (N=325). Descriptive statistics and the Spearman correlation (p<0.05) were used to analyse the data. Anthropometrical and health-related physical fitness components showed no strong correlation among all 7- to 9-year-old rural and urban boys. Stature correlated positively with right and left handgrip muscle strength among 10-year-old rural (r=0.71 and r=0.61; p<0.001) and urban boys (r=0.67 and r=0.60; p<0.001). BMI correlated positively with 10m- and 35m-dash among 10-year-old rural (r=0.84 and r=0.77; p<0.001) and urban boys (r=0.81 and r=0.78; p<0.001). The correlations were similar for 10-year-old rural and urban boys, suggesting that the environment may have a minimal effect on correlations between certain anthropometrical and health-related physical fitness components as boys grow older.

Key words: Anthropometrical components; Health-related physical fitness; Correlation; Rural and urban boys.