Effect of eight week physical activity programme on weight loss in Akwamuman senior high school students

Abstract

Losing weight has become a problem for students in senior high schools in Ghana due to decrease time for physical activity. Even though GES allocated 120 minutes for PE each week, Akwamuman SHS only uses 60 minutes. This study seeks to assess the effect of eight-week physical activity on weight loss among overweight and obese students of Akwamuman Senior High School. A pre-experimental pre-test, post-test design was used with a population of 2309 (81.19%) boarding students. 113 participants made up of 72 (63.72%) overweight and 41 (36.28%) obese were purposively sampled. Results indicated weight loss in all except participants in group 50 – 59 and 110 – 119. Males did not differ significantly in their rate of weight loss from their female participants as the rate of weight loss did not differ about their ages. Conclusions: Physical activity (exercise) is a major factor in weight loss although other factors can affect the rate at which it is done. Eight weeks of physical activity can make overweight and obese students lose weight if extra hours of physical activity can be found. After eight weeks, weight loss did not differ significantly in gender and age groups even though overweight and obese males lost more weight than females. The researcher recommended that schools should adhere to the time allocated to P. E. with no reduction whilst overweight and obese students are given extra hours for properly designed activities and supervision to meet their needs