Abstract:
Losing weight has become a problem for students in senior high schools in Ghana due
to decrease time for physical activity. Even though GES allocated 120 minutes for PE
each week, Akwamuman SHS only uses 60 minutes. This study seeks to assess the
effect of eight-week physical activity on weight loss among overweight and obese
students of Akwamuman Senior High School. A pre-experimental pre-test, post-test
design was used with a population of 2309 (81.19%) boarding students. 113
participants made up of 72 (63.72%) overweight and 41 (36.28%) obese were
purposively sampled. Results indicated weight loss in all except participants in group
50 – 59 and 110 – 119. Males did not differ significantly in their rate of weight loss
from their female participants as the rate of weight loss did not differ about their ages.
Conclusions: Physical activity (exercise) is a major factor in weight loss although
other factors can affect the rate at which it is done. Eight weeks of physical activity
can make overweight and obese students lose weight if extra hours of physical
activity can be found. After eight weeks, weight loss did not differ significantly in
gender and age groups even though overweight and obese males lost more weight
than females. The researcher recommended that schools should adhere to the time
allocated to P. E. with no reduction whilst overweight and obese students are given
extra hours for properly designed activities and supervision to meet their needs
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Sports, Faculty of Science Education,
submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Physical Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
OCTOBER, 2020
