A comparative study of maximal aerobic power of school boys of east and north-east regions of India.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The evaluation of physiological responses during graded ergometry in children has been proven to be useful to determine the growth and development of cardio-respiratory and musculo-energetic systems and is also essential in sports and games. In India few attempts have been made to determine the peak oxygen consumption (VO2) of children from different regions. This study aims to investigate peak VO2 and its relation to other anthropometric parameters of school boys (8 to 14 years age) from east region (ER) and north east region (NER) of India. Also, this study attempts to find out the effect of regional variation, including their growth and development in comparison with the boys of other countries. DESIGN: Boys were selected from east and north-east states of India and then subdivided according to their age. SUBJECTS: The present study was carried out on 394 boys of 8 to 14 years of age, from three different states of ER and five states of the NER on the Indian subcontinent. METHODS:The habitual physical activity, socio-cultural characteristics were assessed by standard questionnaires. The sexual maturity status (age at puberty stage 2) was calculated by standard indices. Height, body weight and skinfold thickness were assessed by standard procedures. Peak oxygen uptake (peak VO2) of boys was measured by computerized motor driven treadmill by standard procedure. RESULTS: The results showed that the body size and peak VO2 of the boys from both regions increased significantly from 8 to 14 years of age. Peak VO2 of the subjects was less than untrained Japanese, European and American boys. The weight related and lean body weight (LBW) related peak VO2 was also changed from 8 years to 14 years boys in both the regions. It was also observed that peak VO2 was significantly and negatively correlated with the sum of skin fold thickness. Body size and peak VO2 were found to be significantly higher in the ER boys than their NER counterparts at 13 and 14 years of age only. Peak VO2 remained the same up to 12 years of age and then became significantly higher in the ER boys at 13 and 14 years of age as compared with their NER counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant difference in peak VO2 of children from ER and NER. The high VO2 may be due to late sexual maturation and higher body size of the ER boys at that age. The difference in body size and sexual maturation may be due to genetic, racial, geographical, climatic and nutritional diversity in the east )ER) and north-east (NER) regions of India.