The relationship between body composition and physical fitness in 14 year old adolescents residing within the Tlokwe local municipality, South Africa: The PAHL study

Table 1 Characteristics of the sample by total group and gender

	Total	Boys	Girls	p-value
	(n = 256)	(n = 100)	(n = 156)
Age (years)	13.96 ± 0.50	14.02 ±0.59	13.92 ± 0.43	0.134
Body mass (kg)	51.72 ± 12.96	51.00 ± 13.01	52.19 ± 12.91	0.41
BMI (kg/m²)	20.71 ± 4.22	19.71 ± 3.62	21.35 ± 4.46	0.020
%BF	17.83 ± 7.01	13.68 ± 6.95	20.48 ± 5.64	< 0.0001
SBJ (cm)	145.61 ± 29.25	160.40 ± 27.19	136.13 ± 26.53	< 0.0001
BAH (sec)	7.86 ± 10.42	14.27 ± 12.31	3.72 ±6.13	< 0.0001
SUP (n/sec.)	16.11 ± 5.60	18.93 ± 3.89	14.30 ± 5.78	< 0.0001
% Underweight	92 (35.9%)	44 (44%)	48 (30.7%)	NS
% Normal	129 (50.4%)	48 (48%)	81 (51.9%)
% Overweight/ obese	35 (13.7%)	8 (8%)	27 (17.3%)
Gender		-	-	-
Male	100 (39.1%)
Female	156 (60.9%)
Locality				NS
Town	80 (31.2%)	34 (34%)	46 (29.5%)
Township	176 (68.8%)	66 (66%)	110 (70.5%)
Race				NS
African	197 (77%)	72 (72%)	125 (80.1%)
White	59 (23%)	28 (28%)	31 (19.9%)

NS = Not significant; %BF = percentage body fat; SBJ = standing broad jump; BAH = bent arm hang; SUP = sit-ups.

ISSN: 1471-2458