The effect of belly dance on health related fitness of female college students

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study, conducted from February to March 2012, determined the effect of a four-week belly dancing workout on college female students' health related fitness in terms of body mass index, flexibility, and cardiovascular endurance. One section of PE 104 (Team Sports) students in one of the universities in Iloilo City was purposely selected as participants. Twenty six (26) were assigned for the experimental group and another 26 for control group. Match pairing was observed so the two groups will be comparable based on the gathered pre-experiment data. The ratio index was used to determine the body mass index (BMI) by measuring the height and weight of the participants, the Sit and Reach was employed to measure the flexibility and the Three-Minute Step Test of the American Alliance for Health PE and Recreation (AAHPER) was utilized to find out the cardiovascular endurance (CVE) .The statistical tools used were mean for descriptive statistics and the t-test for inferential statistics. Significance level was set at.05 alpha. Results showed that the pre- and post-experiment BMI of the participants of the two groups were healthy and normal, and their pre - and post- experiment flexibility and CVE were excellent.