Correlação do Índice de Massa Corporal com as Demais Variáveis da Aptidão Física Relacionada à Saúde em Escolares do Sexo Masculino de Curitiba-PR, Brasil Correlation of Body Mass Index and other Health Related Physical Variables in of Male Scholars in Curitiba-PR, Brazil

This study aimed to examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and the flexibility, abdominal endurance and VO 2max . The sample consisted of 309 male students aged between 10 and 16 years, from state schools in Curitiba-PR. BMI was calculated according to height and body mass. The flexibility and abdominal tests were performed according to the PROESP protocols. Cardiorespiratory capacity was assessed by 12-minute Cooper testing. Descriptive analysis was used for the presentation of data and Pearson correlation to investigate the relationship between the variables, using SPSS 18.0 program with a significance level at p<0.05. Although a significant inverse correlation was observed between BMI and abdominal endurance (r = -0.242, p= 0.0001) and VO 2max (r= -0.223, p= 0.0001), no significant relationship was observed between BMI and flexibility (p= 0.81). Thus, it is concluded that obesity may contribute to decreased levels of physical fitness of young individuals, leading to a lower health status and quality of life.