As obesity trends continue in the upward, there have been many calls to increase physical activity levels in today’s youth. Some states have even passed legislation to increase the amount of physical activity in students. However, the six NASPE standards for physical education emphasize educating students in the three domains: psychomotor, cognitive and affective. While research has shown the importance of physical activity (psychomotor domain) on obesity, less attention is given to the other two domains. Therefore the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the three domains of physical education and obesity in high school students.
Method:
This study was conducted at a rural high school in the Northeast US that received U.S. Department of Education PEP grant. Baseline data was collected on 276 female and 303 male high school students in grades 10 through 12. A linear regression was employed to investigate the relationship between the dependent variable, body fatness, and the predictor variables representing the three physical education domains. Gender was also specified as a dichotomous predictor variable to control for known difference in body composition. The domains were measured by self-reported physical activity (psychomotor); a questionnaire covering health related fitness principles (cognitive); and a Likert-type scale item on attitudes towards exercise (affective).
Analysis/Results:
The results of the study show that while accounting for gender, there is evidence that high school students who spent more days of the week being physically active (M=3.9) had significantly less body fat (p=.017). There is also evidence that increased knowledge about health-related fitness (M=14) is related to reduced body fatness (p=.049). In other words, as students’ cognitive test scores increased they had a greater likelihood of having lower percentage of body fat. However, attitudes toward exercise (M=3.8) did not significantly impact body fatness (p=.847).
Conclusions:
The results of this study provide evidence of the importance of doing more than just offering physical activity opportunities for youth in schools. Providing students the knowledge of health-related fitness may be also assists in the fight against obesity. As schools develop programs to help reduce obesity, it is important they take a multifaceted approach.