Comparative Analysis of Physical Fitness of Physical Education Major Romanian and Ukrainian Students

Abstract

"Introduction: The aim of the present study was to compare the level of physical fitness of physical education majors from two universities based in Romania and Ukraine respectively. Materials and methods: A total of 201 university students participated in this study. 161 subjects were Romanian students enrolled at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Babeş-Bolyai University (107 males and 54 females), and 40 subjects were Ukrainian students enrolled at the National University of Ukraine on Physical Education and Sport (23 males and 17 females). Anthropometric measurements were performed on all participants. In order to evaluate physical fitness indicators, seven physical tests were applied. Results: The main finding of the study was the fact that the physical fitness level of male students was statistically higher (p<0.05) than the physical fitness level of female students in both Ukrainian and Romanian subjects. There were no statistically significant differences (p>0.05) between representatives of the same gender groups of Romanian and Ukrainian students. In the case of Modified Sit-and-reach test and Plate tapping test, female subjects of both groups performed better than male subjects. Statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were observed between indicators of physical fitness of Ukrainian and Romanian students in the same gender groups for the Three Minute Step Test, Modified Sit-and-reach test, Plate tapping test and Standing long jump test. Moreover, excluding the Plate taping test, the results obtained by the Romanian students were statistically significantly higher than those obtained by their Ukrainian counterparts. Simultaneously, there was no statistically significant difference between female groups (p>0.05), except the results in the Plate tapping test, where Ukrainian students had statistically significantly higher results (р<0.05) than their Romanian counterparts. Conclusions: According to the findings of this study, the Romanian subjects had statistically significantly higher results than the Ukrainian subjects. For future research, it would be interesting to analyze the differences between the Romanian and Ukrainian curriculum specific to physical education majors. Keywords: university students, physical development, physical fitness, comparative analysis."