International Journal of Medical and Health Research

Introduction: PFI (physical fitness index) which is defined as ability to carry out daily tasks with vigour and alertness without undue fatigue. Anthropometric parameters like BMI, Waist circumference, WSR (waist to stature ratio), WHR (waist to hip ratio) reflects the fatness of an individual & they all correlate well with the body fat percentage. Though the obesity is going to decrease the exercising capacity. As WSR is a predictor of obesity, we correlated WSR with PFI.

Aim: The present study was conducted to study the relationship between waist to stature ratio with physical fitness in adult males.

Materials & Methods: 80 sedentary men (18-40 years) were included in the study. Anthropometric parameters like height, weight, Waist circumference, were measured. BMI, WSR were calculated, Physical fitness index of each subject was recorded by Modified Harvard step test.

Results: Out of 80 subjects 40% were obese, 25% were overweight, and 30% had normal BMI whereas 6% were underweight. & 40% of study subjects had WSR >0.5. PFI significantly (p<0.05) decreased in subjects with WSR > 0.5 when compared with the subjects of normal WSR.

Conclusion: Thepresent findings indicate that elevated WSR is more strongly inversely related to physical fitness index.