Physical activity patterns and fitness status of A and B division soldiers of Uganda peoples' defense forces

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to assess physical activity patterns and fitness status of soldiers in A and B Divisions of UPDF. The study employed a cross-sectional survey, a preexperimental research design and a stratified sampling procedure was used to select 200 subjects based on division and duration of service. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. Descriptive statistics was also used which included; mean, mode, standard deviation percentages and frequencies. ANOV A was performed to examine the differences. A p-value S 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The study found out that most soldiers engage in physical activities around their home and work place. However, 70% of the subjects registered no leisure time activity at all which would be the best since its contribution to fitness can easily be measured. The study found no significant difference in law back and hamstring flexibility. The findings also indicated that, there was a significant difference between the junior and senior soldiers in core muscle endurance, and aerobic endurance, with a p value of 0.005 for sit ups, 0.000 for push-ups and 0.002 for a two mile run. The study concluded that majority of the subjects do not engage in leisure time activities and the performance of the subjects compared to the US standards was good. It was recommended that there is a need to conduct regular fitness tests, increase the official time for sports. The study also emphasized the need to sensitize soldiers on the importance of fitness, the need for commanders to be given a duty to ensure the fitness of their soldiers which will make work and responsibility distributed easily to ensure all soldiers engage in fitness activities.