The effectiveness of fitness training programme on health-related fitness and motor skill competence among obese children / Zaharul Azwan Abdul Razak

This study examined the effectiveness of a fitness training programme (circuit training) on health-related fitness (HRF) and motor skills competence (MSC) among obese children in a primary school. Two hundred thirty-two (232) obese children from Year 2 (8-years-old) and Year 5 (11-years-old) were randomised into an experimental group (n=58) and a control group (n=58) for both ages. Both groups underwent training three times a week for eight weeks during the physical and health education (PHE) classes. The control groups had the standard PHE training syllabus. In contrast, the experimental groups utilised the circuit training programme, which comprised eight exercises based on HRF and MSC components. Before and after the fitness training, all participants were measured through National Physical Fitness Standard protocols for Malaysian School Children (SEGAK) for body composition, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, and muscular strength. Meanwhile, Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2) was used to measure running, kicking, jumping, and throwing skills. Paired sample t-tests and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were employed to compare between the control and experimental groups for HRF and MSC components. When examining the effectiveness of the intervention towards HRF and MSC among obese children, the circuit training had enhanced the cardiovascular endurance (t (57) = 4.63, p<0.05), muscular strength (t (57) = 5.39, p<0.05), and muscular endurance (t (57) = 6.00, p<0.05) of obese children aged eight years. For 11 years old, there was a significant improvement (p<0.05) in all the components. As for MSC, all components were significant (p<0.05) among 8 years old obese children, but significant result could only be found in running (t (57) = 4.73, p<0.05), kicking (t (57) = 4.73, p<0.05) and jumping (t (57) = 3.65, p<0.05) among the obese children aged 11. Nonetheless, when comparing the differences between HRF and MSC based on age, the result showed that cardiovascular endurance (t (57) = 8.23, p<0.05) and flexibility (t (57) = 2.05, p<0.05) were significant among eight years old obese children. However, for 11 years old, only flexibility (t (57) = 3.63, p<0.05) was significant. All components exhibited a significant difference between the pre-tests and post-tests in the 8-years-old obese children group in MSC. On the other hand, obese children aged 11 years displayed a significant enhancement in running (t (57) = 3.96, p<0.05) and throwing (t (57) = 2.66, p<0.05). The relationship between HRF and MSC was investigated using the Pearson productmoment correlation coefficient. This research discovered that for 8-year-old obese children, two components of MSC were present: running (r (115) = 0.34, p<0.05) and throwing (r (115) = 0.27, p<0.05) revealed a low but significant correlation to cardiovascular endurance. Flexibility (r (115) = 0.26, p<0.05), however, demonstrated a significant and higher correlation with jumping for 11-year-old obese children. For obese children aged 8 years, there were a significant correlation between cardiovascular endurance to running and throwing, while for 11 years old, there were a significant correlation between flexibility to jumping after the intervention. As the conclusion, these results highlighted the potential benefits of integrating circuit training into the PHE of primary school, especially for the development of both selected components of HRF and MSC.