Effect of Nine-week Skipping on Body Mass Index of Primary Six Pupils in University Primary School, Cape Coast

Abstract

Research exist regarding the effects of skipping on physiological responses including body mass index (BMI) globally. Using the one-group pre-test post test repeated measures pre-experimental design, this study investigated the effects of nine-week skipping intervention on BMI of primary six pupils in University Primary School (UPS), Cape Coast. Seventy-seven pupils were chosen for the study using simple random sampling (without replacement) technique. A researcher-generated data summary sheet was used to record the pupils’ measurements (height, weight, gender, skipping frequency, age, and BMI). The hypotheses were tested with independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA with repeated measures and multiple linear regression, all at 95% confidence level. There was no statistically significant difference in BMI between male (M = 20.15, SD = 4.36) and female (M = 20.68, SD = 5.32; t (75) = -.484, p = .63) pupils. There was a statistically significant difference in BMI between pre-test (M = 21.47, SD = 4.94); (M = 21.56, SD = 5.80) and post-test (M = 20.15, SD = 4.36); (M = 20.69, SD = 5.32) measurements of male and female pupils, respectively. None of the demographic characteristics of the male pupils had a marked predictive relationship with their BMI after the nine-week skipping training intervention. However, only baseline measurements of height (B = .37, p < .05), weight (B = -.57, p < .05) and BMI (B = 2.20, p < .05) had predictive relationship with BMI for post-test 3 for female pupils. It was concluded that skipping could be used to improve the BMI of the primary six pupils with normal weight. School authorities should adopt skipping for both male and female pupils to improve their BMI status.