Association of body mass index with fitness index among male and female physical therapy students in Lahore

Background: Body Mass Index is an important predictor of physical fitness that needs to be addressed in job-related work in physical therapy profession. Objectives: To determine the association of BMI with fitness Index among physical therapy students. Methods: This was a cross-sectional associational study. The Sample of 156 undergraduate students between the ages of 20 to 30 years was included. By using a convenient sampling technique, data was collected from Azra Naheed Medical College and the Institute of Child Health and Children Hospital Lahore after ethical approval on 30th January 2018 from Azra Naheed Medical College. Harvard Step Index was used for measuring Fitness Index and Body Mass Index was measured using height and weight. SPSS 22 version was used for the analysis of outcomes of interest. Results: In our study 85 (54.4%) females and 71 (45.51%) males students with mean age of 25.4+4.6 participated. In male physiotherapy students, 11 (17.18%) out of 64 were excellent in physical fitness, 12 (18.75%) were good, 4 (6.25%) were average, 4 (6.25%) were low average and 54 (57.44%) were poor. While in female physiotherapy students only 6 (6.59%) out of 91 were excellent, 18 (19.78%) were good, 5 (5.49%) above average, 2 (2.19%) were low average and 40 (43.95%) were poor. Regarding BMI and Fitness Index, 47 (30.12%) had poor, while 28 (17.94%) had good and 14 (8.94%) had excellent fitness level. Conclusion: The study concluded that Physical therapy students were not having good fitness level. The male students were found fit compared to females, but they were also not to optimum required level of fitness. P value calculated through chi square test was 0.00 showed BMI and physical fitness was associated to each other.