Exploring the impact of physical factors on the overweight and obese physical therapy students

OBJECTIVE: Physical fitness is a fundamental pillar for physical therapy students in promoting their physical health. Obese and overweight students might have limited physical capabilities. Therefore, we investigated the effect of overweight and obesity on the mobility, strength, and agility of physical therapy students. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we collected data from a sample of 13 overweight and 9 obese physical therapy students, aged between 19 and 24 years. We measured spinal, upper, and lower limb mobility; upper body strength (using the flexed-arm hang test), and agility (using the 11 × 10 shuttle sprint test). RESULTS: The independent sample t test comparing the mean values of overweight and obese participants showed no significant difference [t(20) = -0.16, p > 0.05] for the 11 × 10 shuttle sprint test. However, there was significant difference [t (15.2) = 3.79, p < 0.05] for the flexed-arm hang test. The Pearson's correlation test showed a moderate negative correlation between the body mass index and flexed arm hang [r(20) = -0.62, p < 0.005)], indicating that the participants with higher body mass index tended to hold on for less time during the flexed-arm hang test. The correlation assessment showed weak positive correlation between body mass index and the 11 × 10 shuttle sprint test. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, the obese college students tended to have poor physical factors, especially upper body strength and lower limb mobility, compared with the overweight participants. The obese and overweight college students demonstrate lower physical and functional capabilities.