Okechukwu Kingsley Oforka¹, Joshua Emeka Umeifekwem¹, Tochi Emmanuel Iwuagwu¹, Okey Aaron Umeakuka¹, Perpetua Chinyere Ofili¹, Umar Jinedu Badaru¹

¹University of Nigeria, Human Kinetics and Health Education Department, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

Assessment of Aerobic Fitness and Body Mass Index of Officers of the Nigerian Police Force in Enugu State, South East Nigeria

Monten. J. Sports Sci. Med. 2023, 12(2), 63-68 | DOI: 10.26773/mjssm.230909

Abstract

This study assessed the aerobic fitness and body mass index of officers of the Nigerian Police Force in Enugu State, Nigeria. It was a cross-sectional study and a total number of 343 police officers participated. Aerobic fitness was evaluated with a 20-metre shuttle run also known as Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Run (PACER) test which was used to estimate maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) of participants. Body Mass Index (BMI) was also measured and a proforma was used to record PACER performance, gender, age and years of service. Mean, Standard Deviation and Linear regression were used for analyses. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 was used for the data analysis. The findings revealed that the police officers had a mean VO2max of 46.01±8.644 ml/kg -1 ·minute -1. The police officers had a mean BMI of 25.68kg/m2, which was significantly associated (<0.001) with their VO2max. The study concluded that higher BMI is associated with decrease in VO2max. Gender had a significant relationship with the BMI of police officers, as female officers had higher BMI while male officers had lower BMI. Age had a significant relationship with the BMI of police officers, as their higher age is associated with their higher BMI. However, officers of both genders particularly females need to engage more in physical activities to have improved aerobic capacity and have their BMI within a healthy range.

Keywords

aerobic fitness, maximal oxygen uptake, body mass index, police officers, health, PACER

View full article
(PDF – 175KB)

References

American Heart Association. (2013). Children’s cardiovascular fitness declines worldwide. Science Daily.[Available at www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131119112809.htm]

Bradley, S.M., Michos, E.D., & Miedema, M.D. (2019). Physical activity, fitness, and cardiovascular health. JAMA Network Open. 2(8), 1-10.

Bryne, B. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS. In Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming. New York, NY, USA: Taylor & Francis Group LLC.

Cheng, J., Chiu, C., & Su, T. (2019). Training and evaluation of human cardiorespiratory endurance based on a fuzzy algorithm. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 16(13), 2390.

Cooper Institute (2005). Fitnessgram/Activitygram Test Administration Manual (4th ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Dlugosz, E.M, Chappell, M.A., & Meek, T.H., Szafrañska, P., Zub, K., Konarzewski, M., Jones, J.H., Bicudo, J.E., Careau, V., & Garland, T., (2013). Phylogenetic analysis of mammalian maximal oxygen consumption during exercise. Journal of Experimental Biology. 216(24), 4712–4721.

Forrester-Knauss, C., & Zemp, S.E. (2012). Gender differences in disordered eating and weight dissatisfaction in Swiss adults: which factors matter? BMC Public Health. 12(1), 1-9.

Friedl, K.E. (2012). Body composition and military performance – many things to many people. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 26(2), 87–100.

Jekal, Y., Yun, J.E., Park, S.W., Jee S.H. & Jeon J.Y., (2010). The relationship between the level of fatness and fitness during adolescence and the risk factors of metabolic disorders in adulthood. Korean Diabetes Journal. 34:126-134.

Kenny, L., Wilmore, J., & Costill, D. (2012). Physiology of Sport and Exercise (5th ed.). USA: Courier Companies, Inc.

Kind, S., Brighenti-Zogg, S., Mundwiler, J., Schupbach, U., Leuppi, J.D., Miedinger, D., & Dieterle, T. (2019). Factors associated with cardiorespiratory fitness in a Swiss working population. Hindawi Journal of Sports Medicine. 1: 1-8.

Kumar, V. (2016). Cardiorspiratory fitness and body mass index in young male adults of hilly and backward area. International Journal of Science and Research. 5(10), 561-563.

Leger LA, Mercier D, Gadoury C, Lambert J. (1988). The multistage 20 metre shuttle run test for aerobic fitness. Journal of Sports Science. 6(2), 93–101.

Libby, P., (2021). Braunwald’s Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine (12th ed.). Elsevier.

Luiz, G.G., Porto, R.M., Nogueira, E.C., Nogueira, G.E., Molina, A., Luiz, F.J., & Stefanos, N.K. (2016). Agreement between BMI and body fat obesity definitions in a physically active population. Archives of Endocrinology and Metabolism. 60(6), 122-133.

Mahar, M.T., Guerieri, A.M., Hanna, M.S., & Kemble, C.D. (2011). Estimation of aerobic fitness from 20m multistage shuttle run test performance. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 41(1), 117-123.

Mahar, M.T, Welk, G.J., & Rowe, D.A. (2018). Estimation of aerobic fitness from PACER performance with and without body mass index. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science. 22(3), 239-249.

Nuttal, F.Q. (2015). Body Mass Index: Obesity, BMI, and health; A Critical Review. Nutrition Today. 50(3),117-128.

Ortega, F.B, Lavie, C.J., & Blair, S.N. (2016). Obesity and cardiovascular disease. Circulation Research. 118(1),1752-1770.

Shah, H., Mali, S., Rang, S., Jadhav, C., Rukadikar, A., Singh, A.K., & Shamnani, G. (2022). Effect of body mass index on cardiorespiratory parameters among medical students: a cross-sectional study. International Journal of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology. 14(1), 4-9.

Strauß, M., Foshag, P., Jehn, U., Vollenberg, R., Littwitz, H., & Leischik, R. (2020). Exercise capacity, Cardiovascular-and Metabolic Risk of German Police officers in an international comparison. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-84144/v1

Williams, M.H., Anderson, D.E., & Rawson, E.S. (2013). Nutrition for health, fitness and sports (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Vijayalakshmi, P., Thimmaiah, R., Reddy, S., Kathyayani, B.V., Gandhi, S., & BadaMath, S. (2017). Gender differences in body mass index, body weight perception, weight satisfaction, disordered eating and weight control strategies among Indian medical and nursing undergraduates. Investigacion Educacion en Enfermeria. 35(3), 276-284.

World Health Organization (2021). Obesity and overweight fact sheet No 311. Geneva, Switzerland. [Available at https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight]

World Medical Association (2013). World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki; Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. Journal of American Medical Association. 310:2191-2194.

Yamane, T. (1967). Statistics: An Introductory Analysis (2nd ed.). New York: Harper and Row.

Yi, S.W., Ohrr, H., Shin, S.A., & Yi, J.J. (2015). Sex-age-specific association of body mass index with all cause mortality among 12.8 million Korean adults: a prospective cohort study. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2015; 44: 1696-1705.