The Effects of Physical Activity Program on Health-Related Fitness for Seventh-Grade Students in Bhutan

Abstract

The physical health of adolescents in Bhutan is of national importance, with rising non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like obesity and cardiovascular conditions necessitating early intervention. However, the current physical education (PE) curriculum has shown limited effectiveness in improving health-related fitness (HRF) due to insufficient activity frequency and targeted interventions. This study addresses this gap by evaluating a structured Physical Activity Program (PAP) grounded in the FITT principle, aiming to enhance HRF components; cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition, among seventh-grade students at Pema Gatshel Middle Secondary School in Bhutan. Employing a quasi-experimental design with pre-and post-tests, the study sampled 62 students, divided equally into experimental (PAP) and control (PE) groups. Through an 8-week intervention, HRF outcomes were measured using FitnessGram tests, with data analyzed via dependent and independent t-tests. Key findings indicate significant improvements in the PAP group across all HRF components except body composition, where both groups demonstrated comparable progress. Cardiorespiratory endurance rose from a mean of 23.23 to 30.57 (p

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