The Body Mass Index and Health-Related Fitness of Sarawak Primary School Students

The increasing concern among primary school students is their lack of physical activity (PA) has led to adverse health effects in Malaysia. Though physical education is part of the Malaysian education curriculum, a significant percentage of students continue to maintain inactive lifestyles. The study investigates the BMI and health-related fitness of the Sarawak primary school students. The participants were 1248 primary school students (654 males & 594 females) aged between 10 and 12 years old (2.10 ± 0.82) from urban and rural schools in Sarawak. The SEGAK test battery was utilized and administrated. Based on the BMI, the males’ frequency in normal weight BMI increased significantly and slightly increased in overweight BMI, while decreased moderately in underweight and obese BMI from pre to post. For females, their frequency in normal weight and obese BMI slightly increased, but decreased slightly in underweight and overweight BMI from pre to post. Whereas for the age groups, the 10–12 years old group in normal weight BMI increased moderately but decreased slightly in underweight BMI from pre to post. Furthermore, the 10–11 years old group slightly decreased in overweight BMI, whereas increased slightly in obese BMI from pre to post. Next, the 12-year-old group increased slightly in overweight BMI, yet decreased gradually in obese BMI from pre to post. Moreover, the SEGAK test revealed that both genders in superior and excellent fitness levels increased steadily, whereas decreased significantly in fit and poor fitness levels from pre to post. Additionally, participants aged between 10 and 12 years old in superior, excellent, and fit level of fitness increased significantly, but decreased sharply in poor and below average levels of fitness from pre to post. The study showed that intervention programs can foster physical activity participation, leading to beneficial effects on the students’ fitness.