Assessment of physical fitness components in Makerere University Staff.

Abstract

This study to assess the selected health-related fitness components was conducted in Makerere University's main campus among the staff members. The objectives of the study were to assess the body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, and flexibility of the staff members of Makerere University. A total of 30 participants of the Senate building were randomly assessed using the cross-sectional research design. The results obtained were then compared to the already established norms and standard cut-offs for each fitness component. Results were then analyzed and tabulated into tables where other statistical principles were used to classify and categorize the participants based on their corresponding scores for each fitness component. Results showed that 26.7% of the participants were of normal weight, 46.6% were overweight whereas 26.7% of the participants were obese. In addition to the weight categorization in estimating body composition, results for the waist circumference showed that 44% of the participants had normal waist circumferences, 13% were at increased risk for metabolic disease whereas 43% were at greatly increased risk for metabolic disease. The YMCA3-minute step test results for cardiorespiratory fitness showed that 93.3% of the participants scored average and above whereas only 6.7% of participants were below the average showing improved cardiorespiratory fitness among the participants. Participants scored poorly in the plank test with less than half of the population meeting the average mark. Like for the plank test, results for the pushup test showed low strength endurance abilities of the participants with 73.3% of the subjects below the average score for the pushups. Results for the sit and reach test showed that 96.7% of the participants were above average whereas only 3.3% were below the average based on scores. It was recommended that a physical activity program for the University staff members should be initiated to improve and maintain the health status of the staff members.