Physical fitness and public health of secondary school students: A study based on sports modalities and sociocultural variables

Abstract

The term physical fitness is strongly related to health in the pertinent technical literature. After an introductory review of some of its basic concepts and characteristics, the aim of this paper was to establish the typology of the major research trends in the area, and especially: verify the possible effects of variables related to health on physical fitness standards in secondary school students and how these standards are correlated to different sports modalities and sociocultural aspects. Intervention methodology was applied to 87 14-to-18-year-old male students, distributed into five different sports groups. Weight and height were controlled before and after the application of five tests to evaluate power, localized muscular endurance, speed, agility and aerobic capability. These groups were reorganized according to morning or evening classes and course modalities they attend. The results indicate that participation was a strong positive factor for groups regarding sport modalities and daily class hours, except broad jump test. Sociocultural factors influenced variably speed, agility and aerobic capability tests. Craftsmanship students showed a lower performance in speed and agility testes than computer science students. Evening class students showed no significant progress along the experiment.