Abstract:
High body composition and poor cardiorespiratory function are among the risk factors of obesity arising from poor health habits. Previous studies focused on diet with little emphasis on physical activities especially dance as a form of therapy. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the effects of Aerobic Dance Circuit Training Programme (ADCT) on body composition variables [Percent body fat (%bf), Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR)] and cardiorespiratory variables [(Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP), Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP), Mean Arterial Blood Pressure (Pmean), Vital Capacity (VC), Inspiratory Reserved Volume (IRV), Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR), Heart Rate Reserved (HRR) and Maximal Oxygen Uptakes (VO2 Max)] in obese female College of Education (COE) students. The study also examined the moderating effects of age and class of obesity.
The study adopted Kinetography Laban theory as framework, while the pretest-posttest control group quasi experimental design using 2x2x4 factorial matrix was used. The two COEs in Oyo town, namely Emmanuel Alayande and Federal (Special) were selected. Obese female college students with Body Mass Index (BMI) of ≥25.0 were purposively selected ranging from obese class I-IV according to WHO standard. The participants were randomly assigned to ADCT (Emmanuel Alayande COE-35) and control (Federal COE Special-35) groups. Treatment lasted 12 weeks. Instruments used were: Stadiometer, Weighing Scale, Skinfold Caliper, Digital Sphygmomanometer, Spirometer and Peak Flow Meter. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Cochran Q test and Analysis of covariance at 0.05 level of significance.
Participantsage was 21.10±2.46 years, while obesity percentage distribution was categorised as follows: class 1 (21.4%), class 2(60.0%), class 3 (17.1%) and class 4 (1.4%). There were significant mean differences in baseline and post-treatment value of body composition variables in terms of %bf (14.96±3.70; 16.89±4.10), WHR (0.77±0.02; 0.80±0.02) and WHtR (0.49±0.02; 0.52±0.02). There were significant mean differences in baseline and post-treatment values of cardiorespiratory variables in terms of SBP (130.83±9.25; 133.64±13.95), PEFR (295.57±82.35; 279.86±77.15), VC (2178.57±478.9; 2084.29±476.67) and IRV (2330.00±695.09; 2140.00±621.45). The main effect of age and class of obesity were not significant on body composition variables and cardiorespiratory variables. There were two-way interaction effects of treatment and age (F(1,57)=1.12; partial 2=0.04) in favour of age bracket 25-30 years from the ADCT group. The three-way effect was significant on cardiorespiratory variable (F(2,57)=4.02; partial 2=0.03) in favour of obese class 4 participants from ADCT group of age bracket 25-30 years.
Aerobic dance circuit training was effective in reducing body composition and increase maximal oxygen uptakes among obese female students. Obese female students should engage in regular aerobic dance circuit training exercise for improved health benefit and their quality of life, regardless of age and class of obesity.
