Longitudinal dynamic study on minority college students’ physique using physical fitness systems

The physical health of Chinese ethnic minority college students is often concerned, but there is limited research on continuously and effectively monitoring physical health and screening out groups with inadequate physique. This study mainly proves an effective method for screening out normal and unqualified physique groups through longitudinal and dynamic physique investigation. This study tracked Chinese college students’ physique changes during a 4-year physical-fitness system. Using body mass index combined with test results of lung capacity, standing long jump, Sit and Reach, and the 50-m run to evaluate the physical health of students. Calculate the proportion of individuals of different BMI (Body Mass Index) types to the total number of sampled individuals. Using SPSS 22.0 and T-test to examine the differences in physique among 3314 senior students. The quantitative data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Physical health is a dynamic process of change. The BMI combinations of 772 minority senior students were divided into four types. Type 1 (n = 117): normal as freshmen but unqualified as seniors. Type 2 (n = 149) was unqualified in both freshmen and seniors. The items with decreased physical fitness for Type 1 and Type 2 were: boys’ lung capacity and 50-m run. Type 3 (n = 72) was unqualified in freshmen and normal in seniors. The items with decreased physical fitness were girl’ 50-m run. Type 4 (n = 434) was normal in both freshmen and seniors. The items with decreased physical fitness were: boys’ lung capacity and 50-m run. A four-year longitudinal dynamic survey combining BMI with physique can effectively monitor students’ physical health. Minority students’ proportion of normal BMI has been declining, the main contributors are boys. Girls pay attention to weight management, their physique approaches that of the Han, even surpassing Han in Sit and Reach, and 50-m run. However, boys neglected weight management and their BMI significantly increased year by year. Their overall physical fitness is lower than that of the Han, especially with lung capacity far lower than Han, and their physical health is a key focus of physique monitoring.