The Influence of Selected Somatometric Indicators on Students' Aerobic Performance at the Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava

The aim of our work is to identify the differences in selected somatometric indicators between men and women and their impact on aerobic performance. The research sample consisted of students of first year of Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology in Bratislava in the number of 596 (187 men and 409 women). Aerobic performance (VO2max) was calculated on the basis of performance in Beep test. Within somatometric indicators, we measured BMI (body mass index) and body fat using digital scales with body analysis OMRON BF-511. In the first chapter we were looking for differences in the values of body mass index between men and women. We found out statistically significant differences in the categories of underweight, overweight and obesity. In the second chapter, we focused on mutual comparison of maximal aerobic capacity with selected somatometric indicators. As a first somatometric indicator, we used BMI index. Our assumption that VO2max values are significantly lower among students with underweight and normal weight as students with overweight, resp. obesity was not confirmed. As a second somatometric indicator, we used body fat levels. In the mutual comparison we observed statistically significant differences in the category of very poor (P < 0.01) and above average (P < 0.05) where students with low-normal body fat achieved better values than students with high-very high body fat.