Assessment of the nutritional status and physical condition of basic education students in Chile

Abstract

Introduction: currently, regular physical exercise is the best tool available to promote people’s well-being and improve their health. Objective: the objective of the study was to determine the level of physical condition and nutritional status, as well as the relationship between them, in elementary school students in the city of Chillán. Methods: the study is of the descriptive, cross-sectional, relational type. A total of 2500 students participated. To evaluate physical condition, the followingtests were used: Wells and Dillons (flexibility), Sargent Test (lower limb power), AAPHARD’s 1-Mile Test (cardiorespiratory resistance), and Sit-ups in 30 seconds (localized muscular resistance). Results: when comparing by sex, men presented significant statistical differences in the physical variables of aerobic capacity (p = 0.00), situps (p = 0.00) and jumping (p = 0.00); only in the case of flexibility did women present better results (p = 0.01). When relating BMI to physical capacity a negative relationship is observed in both sexes—that is, the higher the BMI, the lower the amount of sit-ups (r =-0.032; r =-0.084, women and men, respectively) and aerobic capacity (r =-0.063 and r =-0.023, women and men, respectively). In flexibility and jump a positive though negligible correlation was observed. Conclusion: normal-weight men and women have a better physical condition as compared to those with overweight or obesity. As for sex, men have a better physical condition except for the flexibility test, where women obtain the best results. In addition, a negative relationship is observed in both sexes between physical condition and body composition, where a high BMI results in a low level of physical performance.