AEROBIC WORK CAPACITY IN HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ISRAEL

Abstract

Maximal O2 uptake (.ovrhdot.VO2 max) was predicted in 1951 high school students aged 14-19 yr.sbd.1061 girls and 890 boys.sbd.from 5 different types of high school. The schools represented the various educational programs in Israel, and the pupils represented most of the ethnic groups. The mean .ovrhdot.VO2 max in the boys was 41.3 .+-. 9.4 (SD), and in the girls, 34.7 .+-. 10.1 ml .cntdot. kg-1 .cntdot. min-1; it was highest at the age of 16 in the boys, and at ages 14 and 15 in the girls. Significant ethnic differences in .ovrhdot.VO2 max were recorded; .ovrhdot.VO2 max was highest in students of Middle Eastern and North African origin [boys 42.7 .+-. 9.3 (SD), girls 35.9 .+-. 14.5], and lowest in the subjects of European and North American origin (boys 39.8 .+-. 9.2, girls 33.2 .+-. 9.3). Israel-born students showed average values (boys 40.7 .+-. 9.6, girls 35.2 .+-. 10.9). Significant differences in mean .ovrhdot.VO2 max were recorded among the 5 different types of school. The highest .ovrhdot.VO2 max values were recorded in the general and agricultural high schools, and the lowest values in boys were observed in the yeshiva (parochial) high school, and in girls in the state religious high school. The differences in .ovrhdot.VO2 max in the various subpopulations in Israel can be attributed mainly to different patterns of physical activity and in part to ethnic origin.