30 Year Trends of Reduced Physical Fitness in Undergraduate Students Studying Human Movement

Abstract

The physical fitness of Canadian adults has decreased over the past 30 years, while sedentary time has increased. However, it is unknown if university students studying human movement exhibit similar population declines. Physical fitness (i.e., anthropometrics, musculoskeletal fitness, and aerobic fitness) and habitual activity (e.g., physical activity, stationary time, etc.) was measured in a cohort of kinesiology students (Post30; 2010–2016; n = 129 males, 224 females) using standardized fitness testing and accelerometry, respectively. Physical fitness was compared to data collected on a cohort of students from the same institution and program, 30 years prior (i.e., Pre, 1984–1987, n = 103 males, 73 females). Post30 had greater waist circumference (males: 83.6 ± 9.1 cm vs. 77.8 ± 8.3 cm, females: 77.1 ± 9.7 cm vs. 70.3 ± 5.2 cm, both p < 0.001) and lower estimated maximal aerobic fitness (males: 55 ± 11 vs. 63 ± 7, females: 45 ± 10 vs. 50 ± 7 mLO2/kg/min, both, p < 0.001). Compared to Pre, male Post30 vertical jump (53.6 ± 10.2 vs. 57.0 ± 8.4 cm, p = 0.04) and female Post30 broad jump (178.7 ± 22.1 vs. 186.0 ± 15.5 cm, p < 0.001) were lower. A subsample (n = 65) of Post30 whose habitual activity was assessed, met the aerobic portion of Canadian physical activity guidelines (~400 min/week), but spent excessive amounts of time stationary (10.7 h/day). Current kinesiology students may not be immune to population decreases in physical fitness. Relative to previous group of students interested in movement, fitness was lower in our sample, potentially attributed to excessive stationary time. Regular assessment of physical fitness in kinesiology curriculums may be valuable to understand these declining trends in undergraduate students that mimic population declines in fitness.

Regional differences of physical fitness and overweight and obesity prevalence among college students before and after COVID-19 pandemic since the “double first-class” initiative in China

“…Overweight and obesity students who also failed in the physical test were the focus groups in the process of health promotion in colleges, and the regional distribution characteristics of these students' each academic year were studied. Physical education (PE) curriculum was established and made available to help maintain and improve the student physical condition in colleges; however, as the end of PE class, with the increase in study burden and the enlargement of employment pressure, more and more students might be surrounded by anxiety in the later academic years, especially during graduate year (59). Due to campus PE courses being basically carried out in their first and second year after admission in most of our surveyed schools, it is important, from the health promotion perspective, to encourage the breaking of sedentary time and engagement in sporting activities through school policy and practice recommendations in junior and senior students, besides impacting the natural processes of growth and maturation.…”