PHYSICAL FITNESS KNOWLEDGE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS BY ETHNICITY
written by Gregory J. Soukup, Sr. and Timothy W. Henrich, University of the Incarnate Word – San Antonio, Texas

INTRODUCTION

Researchers have reported that African-Americans and Hispanics have significantly lower rates of physical activity, and higher rates of chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer than White and Asian populations in the United States (CDC, 2004; Flegal et.al., 2010; Ogden et.al., 2010; USDHHS, 1996; USDHHS, 2000). Soukup and Henrich (2009) executed a study that examined differences in exercise identity between high school students from different ethnic groups, and found no significant differences in exercise identity attitudes between African-American, Asian, and Hispanic students, but all of the previous groups had significantly lower rates of exercise identity than White students.

With the well documented differences between ethnic groups regarding health and fitness indicators, body composition, and attitudes towards exercise, the researchers wanted to see if significant differences would exist between high school students of different self-identified ethnicities in regards to health-related physical fitness knowledge measured by the FitSmart.

METHOD

Participants: Data were collected from a convenience sample of 303 students that self-identified themselves as African-American (39), Asian (33), Hispanic (62), and White (169). The ethnic diversity of the participants was 12.9% African-American, 10.9% Asian, 20.5% Hispanic, and 55.7% White. Participants ranged in age from 15 to 19 years old.

Instrumentation: The FitSmart National Health-Related Physical Fitness Knowledge Test for secondary students was used to assess the fitness knowledge levels of the different self-identified ethnic groups. The FitSmart (Zhu, Safrit, & Cohen, 1999) is a 50 item standardized multiple-choice test that measures rates of physical fitness knowledge among secondary students. Normative scores on the FitSmart range from .1 to 99.

Several pilot tests were conducted by Zhu et al., and different versions of the test were administered to develop the final standardized questions for the test. The FitSmart format is divided into six different content areas which are concepts of fitness, scientific principles of exercise, exercise prescription, components of physical fitness, effects of exercise on chronic disease risk factors, nutrition, injury prevention, and consumer issues.

Different versions of the test were administered in various schools in urban, suburban, and rural areas to eliminate potential biases against any subgroups regarding the test. The authors did not state if their research revealed significant differences in physical fitness knowledge between different ethnic groups.

Data Collection: The researchers received permission for the study from the university committee for the protection of human subjects. Permission to collect data from students was obtained from a very large and diverse inner-city school district in Texas. All data were collected from students in one day by the lead investigator at the high school. Student and parental consent forms were obtained from all participants before data were collected.

Before data were collected, the nature of the instrument was explained to all participants. Participants were informed that all measurements would be confidential, and that individual results would not be seen by any other students, personnel, teachers, or administrators.

Data Analysis: Mean scores were determined for each group and a One-Way ANOVA was used to test for differences in health-related fitness knowledge rates between students from self-identified ethnic groups. The Alpha level for significance for the study was established at the p < .05 level. A Post Hoc analysis was also conducted to test for differences and significance levels of each self-identified ethnic group on the FitSmart.

RESULTS

A One-Way ANOVA analysis determined significant differences in health-related fitness knowledge by ethnicity at the p < .0001 level. The mean scores and standard deviations for different self-identified ethnic groups are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Means and Standard Deviations by Ethnicity on the FitSmart

Table 2 presents a Post Hoc analysis that was executed to analyze differences between specific ethnic groups by mean scores, and their levels of significance on the FitSmart.

Table 2. Post Hoc Mean Differences & Significance Levels by Ethnicity on FitSmart

African-American and Hispanic student mean scores were significantly lower than the mean scores for Asian and White students.

DISCUSSION

The results of the researchers only represent the data that were collected from the 303 students in this study. For the results to be considered a more accurate representation of American high school students, a much larger sample would need to be collected from students in a variety of different educational settings across the United States.

Physical educators need to develop physical education curricula that focus on helping school children from all ethnicities and backgrounds learn and apply important health and fitness concepts into their everyday lives. All students, Kindergarten through the 12th grade, should be required to participate in a daily structured physical education program that emphasizes vital national, state, and local physical education standards that are taught by certified physical educators.

The researchers suggest from these findings that physical education curricula need to be developed that will help African-American and Hispanic students apply important fitness related information into improving their current health standards, and better comprehend how healthy lifestyle choices in the future will significantly impact them as adults.

Any questions regarding this article should be addressed to Dr. Gregory J. Soukup, Sr. – Associate Professor – Physical Education Department – University of the Incarnate Word – San Antonio, Texas 78209 – 210 832-2176 – soukup@uiwtx.edu.

REFERENCES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2004). Youth risk behavior surveillance.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Flegal, K.M., Carroll, M.D., Ogden CL, & Curtin, L.R. (2010). Prevalence and trends in
obesity among US adults, 1999–2008. JAMA. Jan 20;303(3):235-41.

Ogden, C.L., Carroll, M.D., Curtin, L.R., Lamb, M.M., Flegal, K.M (2010). Prevalence
of high body mass index in US children and adolescents, 2007–2008. JAMA.
Jan20;303(3):242-9.

Soukup, G.J. & Henrich, T.W. (2009). Differences between adolescents on exercise
identity scale (EIS) scores by ethnicity. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 31,
June, S137.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1996). Physical activity and health: A
report of the surgeon general. Atlanta.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000). Healthy People 2010.
(Conference Edition, in Two Volumes) (Washington, DC).

Gregory J. Soukup Bio: I am an Associate Professor in the Physical Education Department at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. I received my Ed.D. in physical education from the University of Houston. I have a lifetime teaching certificate from the state of Texas, and I taught physical education and coached in Houston for 11 years.

During my career in secondary education I coached football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. I have taught at the university level for the past 10 years. My area of specialization is secondary physical education pedagogy and sport pedagogy.

I have published and presented on several different topics related to physical education that include obesity, life-long physical activity, health and fitness knowledge, sport, coaching pedagogy, wellness, exercise motivation, and nutrition. I am an active member in many organizations associated with physical education like ICHPER-SD, AAHPERD, TAHPERD, and NASPSPA.


Timothy W. Henrich Bio: I am a Professor in the Physical Education Department at the University of the Incarnate Word and have worked here since 1992. I received my B.A. from California State Fullerton, my M.S. from Indiana University at Bloomington, and my Ph.D. from Texas A&M University at College Station.

I teach exercise physiology, biomechanics, wellness, and coaching courses, and I am the head of the Sports Management program which is a collaborative effort between the Department of Human Performance and the School of Business. Prior to coming to UIW, I was the Egyptian Olympic and National Swimming Coach, Head Coach of the Aalborg Swimming Club in Denmark, and did post doctoral work at the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego where I worked with Navy SEAL and SDV teams doing classified research.

I taught high school physical education for 6 years, and was the Head Swimming Coach of Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, Texas and the Alamo Area Aquatic Association. I served in the US Army, and was a member and later swimming coach of the United States Modern Pentathlon Team based at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. I grew up in southern California swimming and playing water polo in high school and college.

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