Vol. 10, No 1, 2012 pp. 1 - 11
UDC 796.015.132:053.9
Original empirical article
INDICATORS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS AMONG THE ELDERLY BASED ON THE VALUES OF THEIR BMI
Radmila Kostić1, Saša Pantelić1, Đurđica Miletić2, Slavoljub Uzunović1, Marko Aleksandrović1
1Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Niš, Niš, Serbia
2Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Split, Split, Croatia
E-mail: marko.aleksandrovic@gmail.com
Abstract. The modern way of life has led to an increase in the population of the elderly. This occurrence has led to the need for further research on the factors whose action enables the elderly to fulfill their everyday needs by themselves. Some of the more significant factors include physical abilities, which are expressed by the parameters of physical fitness and body mass. With the aim of determining the differences in the indicators of physical fitness depending on the size of the Body Mass Index (BMI) of the elderly, we used the battery of the Senior Fitness Test (SFT), which consisted of the 8-Foot Up-and-Go, Back Scratch, Chair Sit-and-Reach, 2-Minute Step Test, 30-Second Chair Stand, and the Arm Curl (Rikli & Jones, 2001). The study was carried out on a sample of 1288 participants (594 men and 694 women) aged from 60 to 80, who live in their own homes in the cities or villages of Central, Eastern and South Serbia. On the basis of the value of their BMI, the participants were divided into three sub-samples: (1) participants with normal body weight, (2) participants with increased body weight (overweight) and (3) obese individuals. Further subsamples of men and women were isolated. The calculation of the statistical significance of the difference between the subsample of men and women was determined based on the unifactorial ANOVA analysis ANOVA (P≥0.05). The results are shown in tabular form, while the discussion and conclusions point out the significant difference in the indicators of SFT between the subsamples determined based on the BMI in favor of participants with normal weight.
Key words: physical fitness, elderly, BMI
POKAZATELJI FIZIČKOG FITNESA STARIJIH LJUDI U ZAVISNOSTI OD VREDNOSTI INDEKSA TELESNE MASE
Savremeni način života uslovio je uvećanje populacije starijih osoba. Zbog te pojave istaknuta je potreba da se istražuju faktori čije delovanje omogućava starijim osobama da same mogu da zadovoljavaju svoje životne potrebe. Neki od značajnjih faktora su fizičke sposobnosti, koje se iskazuju parametrima fizičkog fitnesa i telesna masa. Sa ciljem da se istraže razlike u pokazateljima fizičkog fitnesa u zavisnosti od veličine Ineksa Telesne Mase (engl. Body Mass Index-BMI) starih ljudi primenjena je baterija Senior fitnes testa (SFT) koja sadrži 8-Foot Up-and-Go, Back Scratch, Chair Sit-and-Reach, 2-Minute Step Test, 30-Second Chair Stand i Arm Curl (Rikli i Jones, 2001). Istraživanje je organizovano na uzorku od 1288 ispitanika (594 muškarca i 694 žena) starih od 60 do 80 godina, koji žive u sopstvenim domaćinstvima u gradovima i selima Centralne, Istočne i Južne Srbije. Na osnovu veličine BMI ispitanici su klasifikovani i tri subuzorka: (1) sa normalnom telesnom težinom, (2) sa povećanom telesnom težinom i (3) gojazne osobe. Izdvojeni su subuzorci za muškarce i žene. Izračunavanje statističke značajnosti razlika između subuzoraka za muškarce i žene, utvrđeno je jednofaktorskom analizom ANOVA (P≥0.05). Rezultati su prikazani tabelarno, a u diskusiji i zaključcima istaknuta je značajna razlika u pokazateljima SFT između subuzoraka prema BMI u korist ispitanika sa normalnom telesnom težinom.
Ključne reči: fizički fitnes, starije osobe, BMI
