Home > Research > NIHA > Research : The Asia-Fit Study: Cross-Cultural ...   Research   The Asia-Fit Study: Cross-Cultural Comparison on Physical Fitness, Physical Activity and Obesity on Youth among Major Cities in Southeast Asia Listen to what the team aims and expects of their research project Stanley Sai-Chuen Hui Abstract Are youth in our country physically inactive, physically unfit, and/or becoming more obese? Before we can answer these questions, we must also ask to what reference indicators we are comparing. Level of physical activity, fitness and obesity in youth are significant indicators of a nation’s health and exercise promotion policies. Asia countries share similar yet different origins and cultures; however, cross-cultural comparison in physical activity, fitness and obesity among them has been rare. Such comparison provides benchmark data for a country to better understand the extent and effectiveness of its national policy, and thus useful for future development. The purpose of the present study is to compare the levels of physical activity, fitness and obesity of youth among major metropolitan cities in Southeast Asia regions. A stratified random sample (N=2,000) of adolescent age 12 to 15 yrs from seven major metropolitan cities in southeast Asia, including Hong Kong, Shanghai (China), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (Korea), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Taipei (Taiwan) and Singapore, will be recruited to complete standardized physical activity questionnaire, health-related fitness, and body-mass index (BMI) measures. Other confounding variables such as demographic information, lifestyle, exercise promotion such as PE curriculum, sports culture and policies will also be collected through questionnaire. Comparison of fitness/activity/BMI levels between different countries will be analyzed using MANCOVA. Variables that influence physical fitness/activity/BMI will be computed via logistic regression. Results will be useful for policy makers to better understand the effectiveness of exercise and sports promotion strategies in their respective countries, and to plan for future national policies. Team Members Stanley Sai-Chuen Hui Professor Department of Sports Science & Physical Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Govindasamy Balasekharan Associate Professor Physical Education & Sports Science, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Jong Kook Song Professor Graduate School of Physical Education, Department Taekwondo, Kyung Hee University, Korea Kenji Togashi Professor Dept of Health and Physical Education, Faculty of Education, Mie University, Japan Yiing Mei Liou Associate Professor Institute of Clinical & Community Health Nursing Taiwan Lu Dajiang Associate Professor School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sports, Shanghai, China Poh Bee Koon Associate Professor Department of Nutrition & Diabetics Malaysia

	Last modified on 27 October, 2011 by NUS GAI