Effects of an Eight-Week Aerobics Programme on the Health- Related Components of Fitness of Kenyan Female University Students
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Date
2025-05
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
It is globally recognized that Physical Activity (PA) plays a critical role in health, especially energy expenditure, energy balance and body composition. The absence of physical activity has been identified as a leading causative factor in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the world, resulting in disability and death among young adults. Aerobics or Aerobic dance, which activates a variety of muscles, is gaining great popularity among young women because moving to music is enjoyable and sociable. The current research focused on effects of an eight-week aerobics programme on Health-Related Fitness components amongst Kenyan female university students. A quasi-experimental research design was used in this research that included a pre-test administered to all the participants (40) to assess status of the five selected components of physical fitness. Out of the 40, 38 (95%) of the sampled population participated to the end of the study period. This was followed by the administration of an eight-week aerobics treatment programme to the experimental group (20) only and culminated in a post-test administration to all the participants in both the experimental and the control groups. The assessments included the components of Cardiorespiratory Endurance, Low-Back Flexibility, Body Fat Percentage, Upper-Body Strength-Endurance, and Abdominal Muscular Endurance, all associated to health well-being. Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 22). Authorization was sought from the Kenyatta University Graduate School to conduct research; an ethical review was obtained from the Ethical Review Committee of the Kenyatta University and a research permit was acquired from the National Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI), and the University of Nairobi’s Research, Production and Extension office. The results for CRED, LBF, AME and UBSE variables showed that the experimental group's scores increased significantly, while the control group's scores did not differ significantly. For the PBFT variable, experimental group significantly decreased between the pre-test and post-test, while the control group's significantly increased. This showed that aerobics had a positive impact on the experimental group unlike control group. The positive post-tests revelations evidence recommended an introduction and implementation of Aerobics programmes in higher institutions of learning in support of Health-Related Fitness among female students. For further studies, quasi- experimental study is recommended to investigate overall physical fitness status of the Kenyan universities students so as to improve health status of students.
Description
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Science (Exercise and Sports Science) in the School of Health Sciences of Kenyatta University, May, 2025
Supervisors;
1.Yasmin Goodwin
2.Festus Kiplamai