Relationship between Physical Activity Status and Physiological Parameters among Adolescents and Young Children

Abstract

Introduction: Childhood obesity is strongly associated with elevated Blood Pressure (BP) and elevated cholesterol levels, progressing over time to adult premature Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). Physical Activity (PA) is protective against various diseases like hypertension and CVD. Aim: To assess the relationship between PA status and physiological parameters among adolescents and young. Materials and Methods: An interventional study was conducted in the Department of Physiology of Siddhartha Medical College, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India from October 2019 to December 2019. A PA intervention was given to 30 participants in the study group (three months of PA one hour, three times a week) and compared with 30 participants in the control group. The anthropometric and physiological parameters were compared between the groups. The coGuide statistical software was used for data analysis. Results: A total of 30 participants in each group were studied. The mean age was 14.28±3.1 years in the study group and 13.6±2.8 years in the control group. The mean duration of PA was 47.8±6.3 minutes. No statistical significance was observed between groups for Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP), Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP) and body temperature (p-value >0.05) post intervention. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in heart rate (beats/min) and respiratory rate (breaths/min) post intervention. (p-value <0.05). Conclusion: The findings shed light on the need of different PA intervention programs for school going children to improve their physiological parameters.