Title: Comparison of Fitness of Skeletal Muscles in School Children of Urban and Rural Population
Authors: Dr Umakant Satapathy, Dr Niharika Panda, Dr. Sulata Mohapatra
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v5i6.155
Abstract
Muscular fitness is one of the important parameter for assessing the physical fitness. Poor physical fitness attributes to different diseases like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary artery disease and different cancers. The present study is aimed to determine the minimum muscular fitness of urban and rural school children by comparing the strength as well as flexibility of muscle. Two hundred school going boys (100 from urban and 100 from rural population) of age 11-14 years were taken for study. Kraus Weber test which is one of the best methods to assess the minimal fitness of a skeletal muscle is employed for assessment of muscle strength and flexibility. It is observed that rural group had more minimum muscle strength as compared to urban (rural 96% urban 88%) and also more flexibility (rural 88% urban 76%). The probable cause could be the sedentary life style in urban population due to advanced modernisation e.g. more TV, laptops and smart phones giving more pleasure rather than the outdoor games in school going boys. A further study taking a larger group can throw more light on the scenario of muscle strength and flexibility in rural and urban populations.
Keywords- Muscle Strength, Flexibility, Kraus-Weber test, Physical fitness, Rural & Urban school going children
