The Predictability of Children's Attitudes Toward Physical Activity and Gender on Cardiovascular Endurance Among Hispanic Youth

There has been much concern about the status of youth fitness. The Hispanic population is increasing and not much information is available pertaining to the fitness level of Hispanic youth. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine the predictability of children's attitude toward physical activity and gender on cardiovascular endurance among sixth grade Hispanic students. The study was approved by the University Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects and each participant and guardian signed an informed consent prior to data collection. All 279 participants (158 males and 121 females) completed a reliable (R=.83) children's attitude toward physical activity survey and performed an exercise session that consisted of the 20-m PACER shuttle test. Measurements that included age, height, weight, percent fat, and sum of skinfolds were recorded on all participants. Each participant's 20-m shuttle test performance, along with their gender, sum of skinfolds and body weight were entered into a multiple regression model to determine VO2_max (Suminski et al., 1999). Physical characteristics of the male and female Hispanic participants were (mean±sd): age(yrs)=10.9±0.6, 10.9±0.6; height (cm)=149.5±9.2, 150.5±7.7; weight(kg)=47.9±15.6, 49.0±12.6; percent fat=26.9±9.8, 27.4±7.01, sum of skinfolds (mm)=32.3±12.6, 35.7±9.8; VO2_max (ml/min)=1636.6±360.0, 1415.8±304.9; VO2_max (ml^.kg^-1.min^-1)=35.7±7.0, 29.4±3.8, respectively. Regression analysis was utilized to determine which attitudes domain were predictors of cardiovascular endurance. Stepwise regression revealed that social growth and social continuation domains were statistically significant (p<.05) predictors of cardiovascular endurance in Hispanic youth. The final phase of the analysis was to determine if the regression model could be used for males and females. Homogeneity of regression slope and intercept revealed a common slope (p>.05) and different intercept (p<.05) for the boys and girls in the study. In conclusion, results revealed that social growth, social continuation, and gender were statistically significant predictors of cardiovascular endurance in Hispanic youth. Further studies are needed to gain an understanding of variables that influence the fitness levels of Hispanic youth.