A Study on Health and Physical Fitness for Office Workers in Hong Kong: Phase I

香港文職人士之體適能研究——第一期報吿

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract in English only.

The study consisted of two phases: Phase I was designed to investigate the health status and physical fitness levels of office workers and phase II was conducted to examine the training effects of a circuit training on health and physical fitness of the workers. In phase I, health and stress inventories (Pace of Life Index, General Well-Being Scale, and Bacek Sports Questionnaire), health indices (blood total cholesterol, blood pressure, lung capacity, and resting heart rate), and physical fitness assessment (bicycle ergometer test; skinfold measurement, sit-ups test; grip strength test; and sit and reach test) were conducted to 171 (112 males & 59 females, aged 30-49) office workers from 22 local corporations. From Descriptive Statistics analyses, it was found that the overall health status and stress level of the office workers were at acceptable levels. However, the lung capacity of the workers was in the category of "fair". The total cholesterol level of the male 40-year old group was found higher than the optimal level. Most of the fitness indices of the workers were in categories of "average" or "fair" when comparing with that of the general population of U.S.A. The Correlation analyses shown that the female workers, with higher regular physical activity hours, had fewer incidents of low-back pain and lower resting heart rates. It was also found that the lower the percent body fat, the lower the systolic blood pressure and the better the cardiorespiratory endurance. Similar correlations were found in the male workers: the better the cardiorespiratory endurance, the lower the resting heart rate and systolic blood pressure for the workers. Researchers indicated that workers with higher levels of physical fitness would have higher working ability and productivity, it was suggested that local office workers should give priority to regular physical activity. Activities such as aerobic exercises, calisthenics, stretching, and muscular training should be included in the exercise programmes so that a total fitness can be developed.