CDC and ACSM recommend Americans 18-65 engage in moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity a minimum of 30 minutes five days each week or vigorous-intensity aerobic activity for 20 minutes three days a week. The CDC reported 23.7% of American adults were sedentary (2005), less than half met physical activity recommendations (2006), and rates of physical activity begin to significantly decline before adolescence (2007). The USDHHS (2008) reported regular moderate-vigorous physical activity significantly improved health and lowered risks of several chronic diseases. Hispanic females have significantly higher rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer than White and Asian females (CDC, 2004; Ogden et al. 2006; USDHHS, 2000). The Office of Minority Health (USDHHS, 2011) reports 57.1% of Hispanic women are sedentary. Fahlman et. al. (2006) reported adolescent Hispanic females had the worst aerobic fitness rates of any ethnic group with 72% classified as “poor”. University of the Incarnate Word undergraduate students are required to take a Dimensions of Wellness class as a requirement for graduation. The curriculum emphasizes cardiovascular fitness improvement and provides 30 minute structured aerobic exercise activities every class and requires students exercise 30 minutes per week outside of class. This study wanted to determine if a university wellness course produced significant differences in Hispanic female university students in 1 ½ mile run times and cardiovascular fitness levels at the end of a semester.
Method:
Permission for the study was obtained from the University of the Incarnate Word Institutional Review Board and data were collected from 84 Hispanic female students that averaged 20 years-old. Pre and Post 1 ½ mile times were collected three months apart. Cooper Institute norms were used to assess cardiorespiratory fitness.
Analysis/Results:
T-tests were used for analysis and the level of significance was established at p < .05. The average 1 ½ mile pre-test time was 17:43 and post-test was 16:06. Pre-test cardiovascular fitness rates averaged 26.01 and improved to 37.3. A 9.14% improvement in run times and 11.29% increase in cardiovascular fitness were achieved. The pre/post differences in 1 ½ mile run times and aerobic fitness levels were both significant at the .000 level.
Conclusions:
This study suggests that a university wellness class of just three months significantly improved cardiorespiratory fitness levels of Hispanic female university students. The researcher infers that requiring just one university aerobic activity class a semester could significantly improve the cardiovascular health of Hispanic females during their university years.