22. Comparative Study of Health-Related Physical Fitness Among Children Attending Municipal and International Schools in Nasik City

Health-related physical fitness is dependent on both the lifestyle-related factors and genetics and is therefore an important indicator of the status of health. The environment has gradually changed to one which requires reduced physical activity and promotes an increasing sedentary lifestyle. As this trend continues, the overall importance of physical activity in promoting and maintaining adequate health is only now being realized. The objective of this chapter is to compare the health-related physical fitness among children aged 7–9 years attending municipal schools and international schools in Nasik city. Around 236 children attending international schools and 234 children from municipal schools, aged 7–9 years were selected by purposive sampling. Physical fitness tests measuring muscular strength and endurance, cardiorespiratory endurance, body composition and flexibility were conducted. Children from municipal schools reflected lower mean height, weight, and BMI. Municipal school children had larger mean muscular strength and endurance (21.52 sit ups). Many of the children from the international school completed the one-mile run test but those from municipal school completed the test in lesser time (10.66 min). Municipal school children were more flexible (13.37 inch). They also had lower waist-to-height ratio (0.40) as compared to the international school children (0.46). Physical activity was considered a key factor for healthy physical and mental development of children. The municipal school children being more physically active had better physical fitness and hence were at a lesser risk of developing lifestyle-related disorders.